New film for Coastal Research Unit up for Royal Geographical Society Prize

The University of Cambridge Coastal Research Unit provide scientifically-informed input for the better management of shorelines and their associated ecosystems and and promote multi-diciplinary research into all aspects of shallow water marine science by bringing together natural and social scientists in Cambridge University and other governmental and non-governmental research institutions.

As the UK prepares for climate change impacts at the coastal zone, research from Cambridge Coastal Research Unit (CCRU) determines the resistance of coastal salt marshes to extreme storms.

Salt marshes fringe much of the world’s low-lying coasts. They act as a first line of defence against storm surge waves, reducing storm water levels and the run up of waves on landward sea defences. As a result, vulnerable shorelines and engineered coastal defences are at lower risk of suffering under the impact of climate change, for example through sea level rise and intense storms. Little is known, however, of the resistance of these natural buffers to the continued battering by waves and tides and even less is known about what kind of storm it takes to erode these protective fringes, and thus leaving the coast and the populations living alongside it considerably more vulnerable.

This short film explains how a team of Geographers and Geologists is planning to shed light on what makes salt marshes resistant to storm waves, using the latest remote sensing and soil scanning technologies alongside one of the world’s largest indoor wave flumes.

The film has now been selected by the Royal Geographical Society for their summer Earth Photo 2019 exhibition.

Developed jointly by Forestry England and the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Earth Photo aims to stimulate conversations about our world, its inhabitants and our treatment of both.

To find out more about the Coastal Research Unit please visit: https://www.ccru.geog.cam.ac.uk/

To find out more about Earth Photo 2019 please visit: https://www.rgs.org/geography/news/earth-photo-2019-competition-launched/

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