New Coastline
The effects of climate change could be disastrous to the vulnerable coastlines and ecosystems, thus having an impact on livelihoods, for example, fishing and tourism.
Likely to have a devastating impact to the UK coast by 2080, the rising sea levels (1.7mm/year) have been contributing to coastal erosion, thus changing the shape of coastlines. Storm events are expected to increase, as well as a rise in sea level, leading to more coastal flooding.
One study suggests that the main vulnerable coastal areas are south Wales, north-west Scotland, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, East Anglia and the Thames Estuary.
More water in the oceans, due to the melting ice caps at the north and south poles, is the cause of the rising sea levels, which is in turn caused by the colossal amounts of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere over the last 200 years, causing a dangerously quick rise in global temperatures.
The arctic methane release exacerbates global warming because methane itself is a powerful greenhouse gas. Ecology experts at the University of Essex say this is not a problem for the future - it is something which needs to be tackled now.
Food supplies may be affected across the whole country as pressure is being put on agricultural farmers because of land near the coast being affected. As well as this, infrastructure along the coast, such as health and emergency services and public transport, are likely to be affected as a result of extreme weather events, such as storms and flooding, which are linked to climate change.