Asia · Sri Lanka
Nation-wide coastline recession and beach loss projections
A nation-wide assessment of short-term (2050) and long-term (2100) coastline recession and beach loss along the Sri Lankan coast — the response of coastlines to sea-level rise being of major importance to policy makers.
Our experts contributed to
- Recession estimated with the Bruun rule, nearshore bathymetry measurements and mean/likely climate projections across four RCP scenarios.
- Nation-wide averaged long-term recession (48% of the coast): 16 m (RCP2.6), 21 m (RCP4.5), 23 m (RCP6.0), 31 m (RCP8.5).
- Significant regional variation identified, e.g. South-east versus North-east coasts.
- Downdrift of open or intermittently closed lagoons on the East and North-east coasts, sea-level rise drives mild to dangerously strong local recession.
- Lagoons in the Jaffna Peninsula are expected to result in local coastline progradation.
Images from “Future coastline recession and beach loss in Sri Lanka”, P. Bakker, University of Twente / IHE Delft, 2018.