Rising sea level should concern us all. Sea levels will not rise evenly: it will vary from region to region. In Eastern and southern Australia sea levels are rising at about the global average, but in Northern Australia the rate is three times or more above the average. It poses difficult decisions of climate adaptation now about whether to defend coastal infrastructure or a managed retreat. It comes at a time when many scientists are worried the IPCC is underestimating sea level rise. In Queensland we have seen Reversal of sea level rise co-ordinated planning increasing risk to Australian coastal development. The natural coastal defences need bolstering but Planners also need to allow for Coastal wetlands migration due to sea level rise, climate change. See also my 2011 article on Sea Level Rise and Australia.
This article by Andrew Campbell, Charles Darwin University and Stephen Garnett, Charles Darwin University, highlights the planning dilemmas involved with rapidly rising sea levels.
