The risk of flooding increases due to sea level changes

A new study by scientists at the University of Southampton shows that sea levels are rising in the south coast of England in the past century, thereby increasing the risk of flooding during storms.

The research team conducted a large data collection, gathering computer and paper records from the south of England, from the Scilly Isles to Sheerness, to form a single data set for Southern sea level.

Their study added a valuable data of 150 years to the existing record of sea level changes in the UK, and expanded data along the southern coast. Their findings are published in the latest issue of the journal Continental Shelf Research.

Data show that both mean and maximum sea levels have increased at the same rate in the 20th century. This growth rate is between 1.2 and 2.2 mm a year, the increase in Southampton recorded It is 1.3 mm a year.

The photo shows the flood in Gurnard of the Isle of Wight, the United Kingdom . (Photo: Coastal Processing and Management Center)

Professor Robert Nicholls, of the Technical and Environmental University, who conducted the study, commented: ' These changes seem to be very small, but in a century they accumulated and increased the risk of flooding. wading in storms, unless there are upgrades to flood protection systems. The water level once capable of appearing once in 100 years in the 1900s is now likely to appear every 10 to 25 years, depending on the location. As the sea level continues to rise and can accelerate, the probability of flooding will continue to rise. '

The most significant expansion of the records was the sea level change in Southampton, where records began in 1935.

Documentary records at St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly, Weymouth, Southampton and Newhaven have been used to significantly expand the record on computers, while the records at Devonport and Portsmouth have been expanded and revised. previous errors.

This new set of data is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen flood understanding and management.

The study was led by Professor Robert Nicholls, Dr. Neil Wells of the University of Marine Sciences and Earth at the National Oceanographic Center, Southampton, and Dr. Ivan Haigh, former University of Southampton and currently at the University of Western Australia. .