Bondi Beach to be wiped out

Article from:
Font size: Decrease Increase
Email article: Email
Print article: Print
Submit comment: Submit comment
September 16, 2007 03:05pm
THREE of Australia's most popular beaches could be wiped out by rising sea levels in less than 100 years thanks to climate change, a Sydney mayor said today.Waverley Mayor George Newhouse said results of a CSIRO study into climate change predicted that sea levels would rise by at least 88cm by 2100 wiping out Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches in the Sydney's east. “These are places where families and children gather,” Mr Newhouse said. “Our children are our future and we are mortgaging their future by failing to act on this climate change issue.” Mr Newhouse launched a climate-change marker today at North Bondi Children's Pool, which he said was forecast to be under water by 2030. The marker indicates to beach visitors the predicted water height by 2100. “At Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte, we will just lose the whole beach and at other beaches like Collaroy and Narrabeen (in Sydney's north) we will see houses falling into the water,” Mr Newhouse said. The CSIRO study analysed sea level increases at six sites around the world between 1990 and 2006, he said. “I'm told that CSIRO estimate is actually conservative, meaning we could see greater increases in sea levels,” Mr Newhouse said. “After a recent extreme weather event (high seas in March) in Sydney, we spent $60,000 fixing our beaches in one weekend and those occurrences are going to increase with storm surges and extreme weather events as weather heats up.” Mr Newhouse said the event had prompted a group of Sydney coastal councils to commission an independent study into sea levels. “We are extremely worried about this issue and eagerly await the results of our study so we can look at who is best placed to bare the risk of climate change,” he said. Mr Newhouse said he hoped results of the council study would be available by the end of the year.