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Portuguese coastal levels always on the rise

June 18, 2002

Of a total of close to 80 percent of the coastal zones in the world that are undergoing a process of erosion, the Portuguese shore is one of those most affected, especially the zone between Ovar and Espinho.

Facts such as the rise in the sea level, provoked by the climate changes that overheat the planet, are the origin of the problem, which is aggravated by the scarce natural defences against erosion that the national coast possesses.

According to Filipe Duarte Santos, coordinator of the SIAM study (Scenarios, Impacts and Adaptation Measures), on the impact of climatic alterations for mainland territory, on the Portuguese coast the average sea level rose 1.7 millimetres a year, by which, if this tendency continues, at the end of the century it will have risen between 20 centimetres and one metre.

In order to prevent this situation and protect the Portuguese coast from the rise in the level of sea water, it is calculated that it is necessary to spend a minimum of 2.5 million euros in the next 50 years. Differentiated according to the degree of erosion of each zone, the protective measures will be evaluated by the researchers involved in the SIAM project and range from evacuating the populations near the zones at risk to the construction of infrastructures – such as dykes or breakwaters – to stop the sea and reduce the erosion.

The other countries of Southern Europe have the same problem, more penalized with the weakness of their coast than the Northern countries.

Duarte Santos, and also Veloso Gomes, specialist in coastal dynamics and professor at Instituto de Hidr'�ulica da Faculdade de Engenharia do Porto (The Hydraulic Institute of the Engineering Faculty of Oporto), consider the lack of sand on the Portuguese coast a major concern, a failing due to the actions of Man. The extraction of sand, the construction of numerous dams and building work a by the coast are some of the factors that contribute to this situation which, according to Veloso Gomes, affects five beaches in particular: Cortega'�a, Costa Nova, Esmoriz, Furadouro and Vagueira.

ObservatÃ�rio da CiÃ™ncia e do Ensino Superior

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