• Energy Research

The amount of coastal subsidence on the Sele River coastal plain has been examined and measured with local vertical land movement data. The vertical displacements, derived by satellite radar differential interferometry processing (Ps‐InSAR), show that the analysed coastal sector is characterised by a south‐eastward decrease of vertical subsidence rates. These results have been coupled with sea‐level rise (SLR) scenarios, in order to identify the most critical areas. In general, the subsidence mostly affects areas where alluvial deposits are thicker, the back‐dune areas and the Sele River mouth, all late Holocene in age. Five local SLR scenarios allow identifying zones in the plain potentially prone to inundation and the shoreline retreat for the years 2065 and 2100. For these dates, 2.2% and 7.06% of the investigated area will have a topography lower than the estimated future sea level. Moreover, results show that the extent of the areas potentially exposed to inundation and erosion increases moving from south to north.

Beach management is a complex process that demands a multidisciplinary approach, as beaches display a large variety of functions, e.g., protection, recreation and associated biodiversity conservation. Frequently, conflicts of interest arise, since management approaches are usually focused on recreation, preferring short-term benefits over sustainable development strategies; meanwhile, coastal areas have to adapt and face a changing environment under the effects of long-term climate change. Based on a “Sea, Sun and Sand (3S)” market, coastal tourism has become a major economic sector that depends completely on the coastal ecosystem quality, whilst strongly contributing to its deterioration by putting at risk its sustainability. Among beach users’ preferences, five parameters stand out: safety, facilities, water quality, litter and scenery (the “Big Five”), and the latter is the focus of this paper. Bulgaria has impressive scenic diversity and uniqueness, presenting real challenges and opportunities as an emerging tourist destination in terms of sustainable development. However, most developing countries tend to ignore mistakes made previously by developed ones. In this paper, scenic beauty at 16 coastal sites was field-tested by using a well-known methodology, i.e., the Coastal Scenic Evaluation System (CSES), which enables the calculation of an Evaluation Index “D” based on 26 physical and human parameters, utilizing fuzzy logic matrices. An assessment was made of these high-quality sites located in Burgas (8), Varna (3) and Dobrich (4) provinces. Their sensitivity to natural processes (in a climate change context) and human pressure (considering tourist trends and population increases at the municipality scale) were quantified via the Coastal Scenic Sensitivity Indexes (CSSIs) method. The CSES and CSSI methods allowed us to conduct site classification within different scenic categories, reflecting their attractiveness (Classes I–V; CSES) and level of sensitivity (Groups I–III; CSSI). Their relationship made it possible to identify management priorities: the main scenic impacts and sensitivity issues were analyzed in detail and characterized, and judicious measures were proposed for the scenic preservation and enhancement of the investigated sites. Seven sites were classified as extremely attractive (Class I; CSES), but with slight management efforts; several Class II sites could be upgraded as top scenic sites, e.g., by cleaning and monitoring beach litter. This paper also reveals that investigated sectors were more sensitive to environmental impacts than human pressure; for example, eight were categorized as being very sensitive to natural processes (Group III; CSSI).

Coastal areas globally are facing a significant range of environmental stresses, enhanced by climate change-related processes and a continuous increase of human activities. The economic benefits of tourism are well-known for coastal regions, but, very often, conflicts arise between short-term benefits and long-term conservation goals. Among beach user preferences, five parameters of greater importance stand out from the rest, i.e., safety, facilities, water quality, litter and scenery; the latter is the main concern of this study. A coastal scenic evaluation was carried out in the Balearic Islands and focused on two major issues: coastal scenic beauty together with sensitivity to natural processes and human pressure. The archipelago is renowned as a top international coastal tourist destination that receives more than 13.5 million visitors (2019). Impressive landscape diversity makes the Balearics Islands an ideal field for this research. In total, 52 sites, respectively located in Ibiza (11), Formentera (5), Mallorca (18) and Menorca (18), were field-tested. In a first step, coastal scenic beauty was quantified using the coastal scenic evaluation system (CSES) method, based on the evaluation of 26 physical and human parameters, and using weighting matrices parameters and fuzzy logic mathematics. An evaluation index (“D”) was obtained for each site, allowing one to classify them in one of the five scenic classes established by the method. Twenty-nine sites were included in class I, corresponding to extremely attractive sites (CSES), which were mainly observed in Menorca. Several sound measures were proposed to maintain and/or enhance sites’ scenic value. In a second step, scenic sensitivity was evaluated using a novel methodological approach that makes possible the assessment of three different coastal scenic sensitivity indexes (CSSI), i.e., the natural sensitivity index NSI, the human sensitivity index HSI and the total sensitivity index TSI. Future climate change trends and projection of tourism development, studied at municipality scale, were considered as correction factors. All the islands showed places highly sensitive to environmental processes, while sensitivity to human pressure was essentially observed at Ibiza and Mallorca. Thereafter, sites were categorized into one of three sensitive groups established by the methodology. Results obtained are useful in pointing out very sensitive sceneries as well as limiting, preventing and/or anticipating future scenic degradation linked to natural and human issues.

Coasts worldwide face a great variety of environmental impacts, as well as increased anthropogenic pressures due to urbanization and rapid population growth. Human activities menace ecosystem services and the economy of coastal countries, often based on “Sun, Sea and Sand” (3S) tourism. The five parameters of greatest importance (the “Big Five”) for beach visitors are safety, facilities, water quality, no litter and scenery, and the characterization of the latter was recently carried out by means of a checklist of 26 natural and human parameters, parameter weighting matrices and fuzzy logic, according to the “Coastal Scenic Evaluation System” (CSES) methodology. In order to propose sound coastal management strategies, the main aim of this paper is to propose a method to determine the scenic sensitivity of (i) natural parameters to coastal natural processes in a Climate Change context and (ii) human parameters to visitors’ pressure in a scenario of increasing tourism and coastal developments. Regarding natural parameters, the sensitivity of “Beach face” and “Dunes” parameters is determined according to an Erodibility Index with a Correction Factor, taking into account wave forcing characteristics, tidal range and trends at a local scale of Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge. This establishes a Sensitivity Index to natural processes. A site’s scenic sensitivity to human pressure/activities was determined by considering the sensitivity of several human parameters of the CSES method according to beach typology and access difficulty together with the Protection Area Management Category to which a site belongs. A Human Impact Index is obtained, which is afterwards corrected by taking into account local trends of tourism pressure, establishing a Sensitivity Index to human pressure. Finally, a total Sensitivity Index considering both natural processes and human pressure is obtained, and sites divided into three sensitive groups. The results can be useful to limit and prevent environmental degradation linked to natural processes and tourism development, and also to suggest measures to improve the scenic value of investigated sites and their sustainable usage. The method was tested for 29 sites of great scenic quality along the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, Spain.

AbstractSea-level rise as a consequence of global warming increases the need to analyze coastal risks to conceive adaptation strategies aimed at coping with marine impacts at both short- and long-term scales. In this context, this study presents future scenarios of inundation risk evaluated along the main alluvial coastal plains of the Campania region (Italy). Due to their geomorphological and stratigraphical setting, the investigated areas are characterized by low topography and relevant but variable subsidence rates. Based on the upgrade of already published data and the new analysis of available datasets derived by multi-temporal interferometric processing of satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images, future scenarios of local sea level for the years 2065 and 2100 have been evaluated coupling global projections with local subsidence trends. Furthermore, aspects related with the distribution of natural and anthropic assets, as well as the local social vulnerability, have been taken into account to calculate the overall risk. The inundation risk maps here proposed can effectively address the request to improve the knowledge of policymakers and local administrators and to raise their awareness about the potential impacts of climate change in coastal areas.