A CA L L FOR ENG I NE E R S
SAV I NG T H E WOR L D I N T I ME S OF C R I S I S
A CA L L FOR ENG I NE E R S
SAV I NG T H E WOR L D I N T I ME S OF C R I S I S
What areas? Our Coastal and Flood Management Solutions research involves staff and students with a background in Civil and Coastal Engineering.
Building a sustainable future
Coastal and Flood Management Solutions Professor Harshinie Karunarathna
Coastal flooding is a serious global hazard. With a rapidly changing global climate, the world frequently witnesses flood events which kill people, seriously impacting the health and wellbeing of coastal communities, and damaging billions of pounds worth coastal infrastructure and properties. The world’s first climate refugees have been reported in our home country in Wales after it has been decided that the seaside village of Fairbourne is to be decommissioned as a result of increased coastal flooding. Coastal flooding occurs when high tides combine with storm surges and highly energetic waves. Storm surges are a temporary rise of sea level as a result of low atmospheric pressure during a storm, hurricane or a typhoon. The risen seawater is then pushed
towards the coast by high wind. If this coincides with high tide and large waves generated by high wind, coastal defences can be overtopped and breached, and natural beaches can erode and over-wash, thus leading to coastal flooding. The global rise of sea levels exacerbates this process. The traditional approach to mitigate coastal flooding is to build larger and larger coastal defences. The downside of this approach is large concrete structures damage the natural environment, alter delicate coastal ecosystems, and restrict the access to the sea – on top of being eyesores to the general public. In our research group, we investigate new approaches to mitigate coastal flood and erosion by developing what is known as nature-based
coastal engineering. By combining experimental investigations in the large wave flume of our Coastal Engineering Laboratory with computational modelling, we investigate how natural coastal systems like salt marshes, seagrass beds and vegetated sand dunes can be integrated into coastal defence schemes. In our experiments, we measure storm wave and current attenuation by coastal vegetation. Those measurements and process understandings gathered from the experiments are used to develop computational models to simulate the dynamics of coastal systems. These models allow us to rise to the challenges of the 21st century coastal flood and erosion management by developing climate change-proof coastal defence solutions without harming the natural environment.
Our researchers are addressing the unprecedented global challenges of our time by collaborating with partners across the world to safe guard and preserve our planet for future generations. From the development of energy-resilient communities and electric vehicles, to encouraging a circular economy, our research and its implementation has established us as agenda setters in the sustainable arena.
Read about the renewable technologies and initiatives that are being developed here at Swansea University and the academics that are championing them here.
ENG I NE E R I NG AT SWANS E A UN I V E R S I T Y
ENG I NE E R I NG AT SWANS E A UN I V E R S I T Y
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