Climate Change adaption for Ports and Waterways

At Coastal Futures last month John Englander, President of the Rising Seas Institute, who has been closely monitoring the ice sheet in Greenland and the Arctic over the last 20 years, suggests that “we cannot avoid a climate catastrophe the like of which has not been seen for thousands of years”. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) now projects that sea level rise could be anything from 26 to 77 centimetres by 2100. And extreme once-a-century sea level events will become annual events by 2050, in all future climate scenarios.

Businesses who operate in the coastal environment like ports and harbours are having to adapt and plan ahead to protect their people, assets and operations.

PIANC’s recently published EnviCom WG Report (Number 178) brings together the findings from their Working Group and provides a brief introduction to the potential consequences of climate change and some of the challenges to be addressed. It then introduces a four-stage methodological framework to help port and waterway operators plan how best to adapt.

“Ports and waterways around the world are experiencing air and water temperature increases, rising sea levels, and changes in seasonal precipitation, wind and wave conditions. Many are also seeing more frequent and severe extreme events such as storms, heatwaves and droughts. Climate change represents a significant risk to business, operations, safety and infrastructure – and hence to local, national and global economies. Waterborne transport infrastructure will be adversely affected. Port and waterway operators need to take urgent action to strengthen resilience and adapt”. More details can be found on their website here.

There is also more details on the impacts of climate change in the recent Marine Climate Change Impacts (MCCI): Report Card 2020 which “summarises the latest evidence from 26 topics regarding the physical, ecological, and social and economic impacts of climate change on UK coasts and seas. New topics for this year include oxygen, cultural heritage, and transport and infrastructure”.