Preserving Our Coastline and Ourselves with Architectural Advances By: Mitchell, Sarah, Savannah, Christoph & Renee

Rising Sea Levels Rising sea levels are mainly caused by climate change which is melting the glaciers and ice caps. This augments the height of the sea gradually. The global average of sea level rise is expected to be from 0.09 to 0.88 meters by the end of the century. In Nova Scotia, the level of the sea is projected to rise up to 73 cm. Making storm surges even more devastating, with a possible sea level rising as high as 2.68 meters.

Severe amounts of damage, socially, and economically. /www.owner4sale.ca/Portals/6/Shared/Halifax Severe amounts of damage, socially, and economically.

http://www.weatherstock.com/slides/Hurricane%203-RF-ORG.JPG This is a beach entrance. The sea level has been raised over the beach and now into the streets. That is what Nova Scotia coastal roads would look like if even a weak class 3 hurricane arrived.

Photo from Google images

Mahone Bay, Main St. Main st. in Mahone Bay is road that many tourist’s and resident’s use to travel. The pavement is very close to the water, and if water rises to much, the road will be washed away, preventing travel. Its all part of erosion, but we can help manage it. This would happen to many other roads causing the government to spend unnecessary amounts of money on them that could’ve been used on other projects.

Photo from Google maps

Fredas Beach, Chester Fredas beach is one of the only beaches in Chester. Many people enjoy this beach on warm days and would hat to see it go. But if we don’t stop the erosion the beach will be gone, and future generations won’t be able to enjoy it. This would also be the case for many other historical sites and recreational sites.

Predicting the Damage Scientists, environmentalists, and others can predict the size, and the time of these disasters using collected data. But there is no room for uncertainty when trying to predict the effect that something like this may have on your civilization. When Charlottetown, P.E.I was flooded by a storm surge in year 2000, unbelievable amounts of damage were caused and large amounts of money were spent trying to fix them. If we as Nova Scotians do not act, this may very well happen to our home communities and our capital city.

How can it be prevented, or at least reduced? Some ways to help reduce and manage the amount of erosion are: Groynes Artificial reefs Rock armor Breakwaters

Groynes Definition: an extension to the shore to prevent beach erosion There are pictures on the next slide to explain. http://www.aarslef.com/

Usage of Groynes 1 2 Pictures from www.bbc.ca 3

Artificial Reefs Artificial Reefs are underwater structures built to give fish and other marine life an habitat to live at. It’s a great way to use otherwise obsolete ships and vehicles. Artificial Reefs attract tourists who want to go diving to “shipwrecks” and “reefs”, increasing revenue made from the tourist industry. However while doing all this, they are used to reduce the force of waves and redirect waves away from the beach if built on a angle, which, if used with breakwaters, can be very effective.

(Left) Artificial Reef made with obsolete train engines and passenger cars. Source: http://aquaviews.net/from-trash-to-treasure-artificial-reefs-uncovered/ (Right) These are parts used in an artificial reef, used to reduce the waves power while giving marine life the space they need to move around. Source: http://sgp.undp.org/web/images/4507/future_replication_and_expansion_of_sgp_artificial_reef_pyramids.html

Breakwaters Breakwaters are a structure built along the coast or off shore to prevent long shore drift and erosion. They are basically walls of rock or other constructible and durable materials, that slow down, re-direct, and stop large movements of water. This prevents wear and erosion of our land and potentially our communities.

Rock Armor Picture Source: http://www. pillbox. org

Offshore Breakwaters The most appealing option to the general public, are offshore breakwaters. These are put far offshore to reduce the power of a wave and redirect the wave. It uses far less materials than other types, and is very sturdy when being pushed on by large masses of water, and is not outrageously costly at the same time. Source: http://outdoornebraska.ne.gov/fishing/programs/aqhabitat/aqrestech.asp

Lunenburg Breakwaters Why it was put in place and how well it is working Lunenburg had previous breakwaters but due to multiple factors they needed to be replaced 3 new breakwaters made in Yarmouth were installed in the Lunenburg harbor Were set in place to protect the shore from erosion as well as protect the boats that were docked in the harbor

There were put in a specific area to ensure the greatest effectiveness Have helped slow down the effects of erosion and has protected the boats from waves These breakwaters can also slow down a swell in a storm, resulting in less damage May not be the most effective way for long term protection, but they slow down the effects greatly especially in harbors and bays.

Overall, these breakwaters and artificial reefs would, dramatically increase the safety and preservation of our coastal regions, help out the animals that live around the coast, not be such an expensive option, recycle things we no longer need for good use. Everything the public is looking for and more.

Sources www.wikipedia.org www.google.ca http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/auth/english/maps/climatechange/potentialimpacts http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/ http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2010/02/10/ns-halifax-harbour-levels.html