The times they are a-changin' on Scotland's coast
Date: Monday 7th September 2015
Time: 7pm
Venue: the Victorian Bar, Tron Theatre
Speaker: Jim Hansom
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'. Bob Dylan
Scottish shores are moving inexorably landwards due to enhanced erosion and flooding driven by increases in sea level and storm impact together with dwindling coastal sediment supply. The pattern of coastal vulnerability is varied but the low-lying lands of the Western and Northern Isles, the Scottish east coast and the developed firths are at particular risk in the medium to long-term. To date our attempts at adaptation have been ineffectual and the scale and pace of adaptive provision needs to move up a gear if we are to cope with the changes in natural processes that are already under way.
The threats are considerable, but so too are the opportunities if we get it right. Planning needs to get future-proofed and smart: we may need to think the unthinkable with time-limited planning permissions and building regulations along the coastal strip; mobile land-uses and demountable buildings (moving house might just be that); and “Holding The Line” only where absolutely necessary.
The timing and choices are ours but it is increasingly certain that we will be forced to adapt.
About the speaker:
Dr Jim Hansom is Reader in the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow. He is a geomorphologist with research interests in coastal processes and forms and the practical use of this knowledge in the management of coasts, as well as in polar environmental change and its management.
Find out more:
Dr Jim Hansom