Human Interest

The Coastal Risk Australia website has been developed to help communicate the risks of coastal flooding associated with sea level rise and storm surge. There is robust evidence that sea levels have risen as a result of climate change based on observations from tide gauges, paleo indicators and satellite measurements. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report found that over the last century global average sea level rose by 1.7 [1.5 to 1.9] mm per year. In recent years (between 1993 and 2010) this rate has increased to 3.2 [2.8 to 3.6] mm per year. The IPCC report finds that the rate of sea level rise over the last century is unusually high in the context of the last 2,000 years.
Australia is a coastal society, 85 per cent of the population lives in the coastal region and it is of high economic, social and environmental value to the nation. Nearly 39,000 residential properties are located within 110 metres of soft, erodible shorelines. Exposure will increase as Australia's population grows.