In an effort to protect its population from the dangers of rising sea levels an environmental group in Australia has revealed a controversial plan which would ban Australians from living on the coast. After nearly eighteen months of research the group found that sea levels in Australia could reach deadly levels over the next hundred years, and that drastic action would need to be taken to protect the population on the coast. The study aimed to find out what effects climate change might have on the coastal regions of Australia, and what it found was information that was frightening.
The parliamentary committee called The National Sea Change Taskforce found that sea levels in Australia could rise over thirty one inches over the next one hundred years. The committee made several recommendations based on their findings including a ban which would stop people from building homes in coastal areas that may be in danger from rising seas and flooding. The committee also recommended that people living in coastal areas be evacuated for their own safety. These recommendations may seem simple but they pose many unique challenges to Australia as the majority of its population lives in areas that the committee would consider to be high risk.
Near all of Australia’s major cities, including Sydney and Melbourne are in coastal areas deemed unsafe by the National Sea Change Task Force. In addition, nearly six million homes in rural and regional centers would also be at risk and need to be moved. Over seven hundred thousand homes in Australia are within two miles of the sea and nearly 80 percent of Australians live in coastal areas.
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