The Sunshine Coast is marketed globally as a sun, sand, and surf tourist location but as the severity of storm activity increases our beaches suffer the consequences.
There has always been a cycle where storms erode the dunes with the sand naturally replaced through accretion but this cycle appears to be shifting.
We interviewed a number of beach-goers to canvas opinions as to the causes and possible solutions for this growing issue.
While everybody, including overseas visitors to the beach, identified increasing storm activity as the main cause of sand loss, only half those people linked this to climate change.
Dr Luke Verstappen, senior lecturer on Climate Change at University of the Sunshine Coast, identified human activities and climate change as the primary driver of the impacts.
“While there is accretion in some areas,” he said, “erosion is about twice the size of accretion at the moment.”
What is causing beach erosion?
— notnotazing (@notnotazing) November 6, 2022
When asked what could be done to mitigate this erosion responses were varied and uncertain.
Eve Leahman, 23, said how to fix the problem was a really big question and that she didn’t feel we had any real answers for that.
As to who was responsible for implementing any mitigation measures most people identified the government.
Dr Verstappen, however, felt a co-funding arrangement between all levels of government and business was the best approach.
“We have to look at what we are actually funding and does it provide the best outcomes,” he said.
One thing did become apparent across all our interviews was the public’s inability to link the impacts of climate change directly to its consequences.
Perhaps the real solution is a campaign to increase public awareness around the science of climate change and how it is going to affect the lives of each of us as individuals.
Who is responsible for fixing beach erosion?
— notnotazing (@notnotazing) November 6, 2022
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