Date: 14/12/2009
A study at the University of Southampton found sea levels rising across the south coast of England over the past century. Computer and paper-based records from across the south of England from the Scilly Isles to Sheerness were combined to form a single data set which shows the rate of rise in the range 1.2- 2.2 mm per year, with 1.3 mm per year recorded at Southampton. Coastal engineering expert Professor Robert Nicholls, comments: ‘While these changes seem small, over a century they accumulate and substantially increase the risk of flooding, unless there have been corresponding upgrades to flood defences’. The findings are published in the journal Continental Shelf Research.