ABSTRACT
In 1985, Bird reported on a project undertaken by the International Geographical Union’s Commission on the Coastal Environment: this found 70 per cent of the world’s sandy coastline undergoing net erosion. As 60 per cent of the global population (or nearly 3 billion people) live in the planet’s coastal zones, and two-thirds of the world’s cities with populations of 2.5 million or more are located in open coast or estuarine locations (Viles and Spencer 1995), Bird’s (1985) statistic identifies a major environmental issue. It is an issue already strongly imprinted on many local, and national, consciences. Strong conflicts can arise in the tackling of coastal erosion between local residents; local, regional and national regulatory bodies and interest groups; and consultant scientists: the interaction of physical processes and economic, social and political forces makes coastal erosion a strongly geographical problem. Furthermore, any coastal study must take account of the great diversity of coastal settings and of the role of environmental change over the last 10, 000 years in determining contemporary shoreline morphology (see Box 8.1). There has been a growing concern in the last decade that coastlines are at risk and under pressure. Two broad sets of processes, both potentially accelerating, have been identified.
