Feature Stories

Introduction of "Future Coasts: Preparing Victoria's Coast for Climate Change" Project in Australia.

The state of Victoria in Australia has a shoreline that extends some 2,000 km and there are urgent needs to identify those parts that are most vulnerable to the effects of global warming.

The state government, therefore, started a project on August 27, 2007 as a two-year program implemented with the Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) that aims to provide a much better understanding of the risks of rising sea levels and stronger storm surges.

As the first step, a high resolution Digital Evaluation Model (DEM) of Victoria's entire coast line, which will show the lie of the land 10 meters above and below sea level, will be developed using data collected by an airborne laser system.
In addition, the CSIRO will develop projections for sea level rises and storm surges for Victoria's coastline.
As the final step, vulnerability assessments will be performed using DEM and the CSIRO projections.

For more information, please see the Future_Coasts_fact_sheet.pdf