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Impacts of sea-level rise-induced erosion on the Catalan coast

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Abstract

The Catalan coast as most of the developed Mediterranean coastal zone is characterized by the coincidence of stresses and pressures on the natural system with a high exposure and low adaptive capacity. Due to this, climate change-induced effects will increase natural hazards and aggravate their associated impacts and, in consequence, it is necessary to assess their effects for proper long-term management. In this work, we assess the impact of sea-level rise (SLR)-induced shoreline retreat on the Catalan coast for three scenarios ranging from 0.53 to 1.75 m by the year 2100. Implications are analysed in terms of affectation of two main functions provided by beaches, i.e. recreation and protection. Obtained results show that CC will be a serious threat to analysed functions since the expected enhanced shoreline retreat will severely decrease the recreational carrying capacity and the capacity of protection in the near future under tested scenarios. The actual level of development along the coastal zone reduces the natural resilient capacity of beaches to SLR in such a way that the lack of accommodation space can be identified as a main factor for the estimated impacts.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been done in the framework of the PaiRisClima and RISES-AM and RISCKIT research projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (CGL2014-55387-R) and the European Commission (Grants Nos. 603396 and 603458) respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratori d’Enginyeria Marítima, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech, c/Jordi Girona 1-3, Campus Nord ed D1, 08034, Barcelona, Spain

    José A. Jiménez, Herminia I. Valdemoro, Eva Bosom & Agustín Sánchez-Arcilla

  2. Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Robert J. Nicholls

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  1. José A. Jiménez
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  2. Herminia I. Valdemoro
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  3. Eva Bosom
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  4. Agustín Sánchez-Arcilla
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  5. Robert J. Nicholls
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Correspondence to José A. Jiménez.

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Editor: Wolfgang Cramer.

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Jiménez, J.A., Valdemoro, H.I., Bosom, E. et al. Impacts of sea-level rise-induced erosion on the Catalan coast. Reg Environ Change 17, 593–603 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-016-1052-x

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