Climate change has much effect on our planet. There is need to know how it affects us and what could be done to lessen those effects. Studying the environment is one way of knowing what effects that climate change have. In particular, studying coastal soil erosion could be the key to lessen climate change effects.
The coastline in Sussex has been eroding very fast in recent years. A study has found that erosion there has been rapid for the last 200 years. This rate has been stable for thousands of years until the last 200-600 years.
For thousands of years the erosion rate along Beachy Head and Seaford Head has been around two to six centimeters every year. That has increased drastically though, as researchers find that in the last 200-600 years it has eroded between 22 to 32 centimeters each year.
One of the factors that likely contributed to this condition is rising sea levels. As climate change continues, scientists have said that polar ice is slowly melting. This has added to rising sea levels. Another reason for the rapid erosion is that severe storms have also increased. Both are seen to be part of the effects of climate change.
Dr.Dylan Rood is one of the co-authors of the study and is from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London. He said that the study has observed Britain's coastline eroding at a fast rate. He stressed that the UK government must resolve the issue soon as the cliffs would soon disappear in the face of climate change, as the Imperial College London states.
To learn how fast is soil erosion along the coasts of Britain, the researchers have used a method called cosmogenic dating. The isotope of beryllium-10 is used for this method. The isotope reacts to oxygen on the rocks. Through this the researchers are able to know how fast is the rate of erosion on the cliffs.
The method is now being used by researchers as a way of recording erosion along Britain's coast, as Science Daily reports. The method would also be used to create a model that could predict how much erosion and climate change is affecting the coastline of Britain. Studying coastal soil erosion could very well be the key to lessen climate change effects, since it shows how much climate change is costing the environment.
Another victim of climate change are coral reefs. Rising carbon dioxide is threatening coral reefs. Climate change is changing our world, and many scientists are saying that people must prepare for it.
