Half of the beaches on the planet will disappear by 2100

Climate change, coupled with rising sea levels, could destroy half of the sandy beaches of the Earth by 2100, according to an article published in the journal Nature Climate Change . Even if humanity manages to significantly reduce the level of pollution of the planet with fossil fuels, which is the main cause of global warming, more than a third of all the sandy coastlines of the planet will disappear, thereby causing significant damage to coastal tourism in several countries of the planet. Will humanity soon have no opportunity to relax in the famous resorts?

Climate change can have many unforeseen consequences

Where do the beaches go?

It seems that soon we will forget about summer vacations on the sea coast. Specialists from the Joint Research Center of the European Commission predict a significant reduction in beaches around the world. Once again, global warming is to blame, which is accused not only of the destruction of sea resorts, but also of an unprecedented heat in Antarctica (we will probably go there soon to relax), and even to change the nature of spiders . In a new study, scientists argue that the lack of beaches can adversely affect climatic conditions.of our planet. So, according to their new report, sandy beaches can be not only an excellent goal for summer tourism, but also play a huge role in containing coastal storms and floods. Without their natural protection, humanity runs the risk of extreme weather events threatening coastal cities and countries with devastating consequences.

The authors of the article argue that some countries, such as the United States, are already planning to create extensive defense systems, but in most countries of the world such large-scale engineering schemes will be an impossible task for a number of reasons. So, one of such countries will be Australia, which over the next 80 years runs the risk of losing almost 15,000 kilometers of its famous beaches. Australia will be followed by Canada, Chile, the United States, China, Mexico, Argentina, Russia, Brazil and India already mentioned above.

The published article also mentions that sandy beaches occupy more than a third of the entire world coast, often located in the most densely populated areas. In order to assess the rate of disappearance of coastlines, scientists analyzed satellite data from the last 30 years, which showed the possibility of erosion in accordance with two scenarios of climate change .

A huge number of beaches across the planet are at risk of diving in the coming decades

One of the proposed scenarios suggests that carbon emissions will continue to increase their growth rates further; a less frightening scenario expects that humanity will slightly exceed the current rate of global warming , but will not go beyond the limits provided for in the 2015 Paris Agreement. The results of the simulation surprised scientists: according to first calculations, by 2100 the world risks losing almost half of all the sandy beaches of the planet, making vacation on the coast (possibly even on the Black Sea) a rather expensive and inaccessible occupation. A more likely version showed that by 2100 “only” 30% of the entire coastline will go under water, most of it within the next 30 years.

Researchers believe that no matter what scenario humanity takes, burning fossil fuels can have even more catastrophic consequences than is currently assumed. Should we expect the onset of the climate apocalypse in this case? Scientists do not yet have an answer to this, however, the accelerating melting of glaciers in several regions of the planet, including the Himalayas, Antarctica and Greenland, can lead not only to a decrease in the area of ​​sandy beaches, but also to erosion of deltas of water bodies around the world. But already this can lead to more sad consequences for us than a decrease in the area of ​​beaches suitable for recreation