Deluxe beachfront properties are reportedly falling into the sea in a coastal zone of Australia, New South Wales province. In subsequent days, people in over 40 residences along the Wamberal Beach — located 90 kilometers north of Sydney — had to move because of a danger of rising sea levels weakening and devastating the dwellings. Properties worth millions of dollars are threatening to fall-off hills overlooking the sea. However, cycles of massive waves have destroyed the edge of the cliff, thus apartments helplessly falling off. Last weekend’s videos display white tides rising to a cliff close to the homes, exposing ruptured escalators and littered debris on the beaches as the sea sweeps inland.
This weekend, many homeowners have had the flood covering their backyards or front patios and a significant loss in balconies. Dozens of houses have been deemed at risk by officials, and inhabitants have been given two hours to evacuate their premises and to flee during low tides. It is unclear when they will be granted access to their homes. Officials have shut off the electricity, water, and gas to the most hazardous places, while the Central Coast Council of Australia calls upon locals to keep off the region. Meanwhile, municipal councils and government organizations are collaborating to provide shelter for homeless people in this crisis.
Locals in Australia Distrust the Government
Yet the media has heard less from many disgruntled people, as they suspect the city government was not taking appropriate steps to resolve long overdue issues. The residents have been alert for years about the amplification of beach erosion because of climate change and have campaigned for a sea wall, particularly after devastating hurricanes in 2016.
Throughout the press release on Monday, the council “recognized the extreme weather that brought considerable disruption to the community.”
The council would not consider administrative steps because the people took “coastal protection initiatives” to secure their homes in the coming weeks.
“This is not a time for blaming each other. We need to work together to deliver long-term solutions for the coast, including those who have been impacted by this event,” said Mayor Lisa Matthews in the release.
But some citizens also saw that as more proof that officials are relinquishing their responsibility.
“We can’t protect our own homes at our cost — the council doesn’t want to do anything,” said Chris Rogers, a resident who had to flee his home, according to Nine News. “We’ve got no trust in them. It’s hard to trust someone for over a decade; they’ve been letting people down.”
Prediction: Beach Areas Around the World will be Destroyed
Beachside homes in Wamberal sustained destruction of property investment and erosion during floods and sea surges for decades after the 1970s. The council did not launch formal studies and plans for a breakwater until 2019.
Many cities across the world are also at risk of beach flooding according to the government geoscience department. Almost 39,000 buildings on the Australian coast are at increased risk of adverse destruction because of climate change. Some reports show that by the end of the century, half of the beaches on the planet will have vanished just as it is happening now in Africa, particularly on the shores of Lake Victoria.
The Australian shores are over 7,100 miles (11426.34 km). About 50 percent of the whole sandy shoreline of Australia—will disappear by 2100. Climate change produces increasingly severe weather patterns that present an elevated incidence of rising tides and destructive hurricanes.
Coastlines are typically diverse environments. They adapt and adjust dynamically with the tidal waves and react to shifts at sea level. Even as humans settle by the sea, the shores will shift and float to prevent the natural cycles. This causes the sand to build up. By 2050, specific beaches like what we see now will not be remembered, with 14% to 15% suffering extreme erosion.
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Sites like Miami Beach are hiding in loads of sand in the US to restore heavily damaged beaches. Some other beaches have built massive walls and breakwaters to preserve valuable sand. Nonetheless, these ventures have substantial financial and environmental expenses. Experts warn that rising sea levels and heavy storms overwhelmed with an increasingly mild atmosphere are rendering the battle a lost cause.
Other nations that may see massive volumes of coastal degradation are Chile, the US, China, Russia, Mexico, Argentina, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, among others.
