Management of flooding, Thames, Bangladesh Adaptation+ Mangrove, Hallsands Devon

What triggered the construction of the Thames barrier?

1953, storm surge came down east coast, swept up Thames estuary, caused flooding in certain areas.

Thames barrier opened in 1982

Why is the Thames barrier so important for London?

Meant that flood defenses in London didn’t have to be raised by 3 metres.

Protects 1.3 million people

What would the economic impact be if the Thames barrier wasn’t there?

Protects 275 billion pounds worth of property.

Said that if a flood hit whilst Thames barrier went, it would have the same impact as the 2007 financial crisis.

How has Bangladesh managed to try and regain its mangrove forests to lessen the impact of disasters?

   Bangladesh climate change strategy and action plan (BCCSAP). All recommended planting mangrove forests along coast as an adaptation tool for natural disasters.

Utilised the help of NGOs such as “Friendship”

In the last 3 years, “Friendship” has planted over 200 hectares of mangrove trees

How did mismanagement in Hallsands, Devon, lead to the loss of the beach? (shingle)

Dredging removed a lot of the shingle from the beach, took out 600,000 tonnes of shingle, lead to the destruction of the village and loss of the beach

What strategies are being used to protect the coast in Minehead?

At Minehead, sea walls are being built to prevent the destruction of the beach, rock armour placed in front with boulders weighing over 7 tonnes.

Around £12.5 million pounds spent on these defences.

Bangladesh Adaptation strategy 1(embankments), why are embankments needed?

High tides are rising 6x faster in Khulna and along the estuaries of South West Bangladesh.

Embankments built to protect people from the tides are funnelling tidal flows, pushing water inland .

Bangladesh Adaptation strategy 1, (embankments) what has been done?

Past 50 years, Bangladesh has built 4000 km of embankments along the coast.

About 30 million people live on polders (land enclosed by embankments)

2014, Bangladesh planning to upgrade 600km of embankments in the Sundarbans delta region (using $400 million from world bank)

Bangladesh adaptation strategy 2, (mangroves) What are the benefits of mangroves?

1999 during cyclone Kalina, villages that still had 4 or more km of mangroves reported no deaths

In areas where there was a protective belt less than 3km wide, the deaths rose sharply

50 years ago the coastal village of Odisha had 5.1 km of mangroves protecting them, now that is 1.2 km

Bangladesh adaptation strategy 2, (mangroves), what is being done?

NGO Wetlands international alongside Bangladesh gov and Odisha ICZM, trying to reverse decades of mangrove destruction, helping villagers to cultivate and plant mangroves along the coastline.

 

 

Bangladesh adaptation strategy 1, (embankments), why do some people disagree?

Some disagree with this such as British geomorphologist, John Pethick

 

Pethick warns that embankments should be placed further back from estuaries but the Bangladeshi’s do not want to give up land

Pethick warned that sea levels could rise by 2.5 metres by the end of the century