Urgent action needed

A NEW report has warned that the latest sea-level data shows Bells Beach and other iconic beaches across the region will wash away without urgent action – a warning locals have been repeating for years.

Surf Coast Surfrider Foundation secretary Darren Noyes-Brown says the foundation is calling on “all surfers and lovers of the coast to help halt and reverse the effects of climate change by getting active on climate change issues and reducing greenhouse emissions at home, at work and in our community”.

Local surfer Maurice Cole, who has a 50-year story at Bells, says a transparent impact study on sea-level rise is needed and all levels of government need to work together with local communities before it is too late.

“It looks like we are down to our last decade of having useable beaches,” Maurice said.

“Surfers are the canary in a cage in a coal mine, in being on the frontline of climate change; we are daily users of Bells and Surf Coast beaches and we see the pollution and sea level rise, erosion, sea life and user issues.

“Sea level rise has cliffs collapsing from Jarosite through to South Side where there has been a couple of recent cliff collapses; this week a section of cliff below the Bells Hammerhead collapsed.

“Now we have an enormous issue at Winki Pop where on high tide and with a swell, you can no longer walk along the rocks to get back to the stairs, as you will be washed away.

“The recent rescues at Winki have only highlighted this increasing safety issue.

“Sea level rise should be of great concern to all of us here on the Surf Coast as we have one of the fastest eroding coastlines in the world.

“This is a federal, state and local government issue, as it concerns the liveability and sustainability of our coastal lifestyle and habitat.

“It looks like sea level will severely limit ocean and beach users lifestyles… less parking, less beach, more people,” he said.

Darren says it’s time the state and federal governments took “real action in response to the reports on climate change”.

“They need to address the source of the problem by ceasing all new fossil fuel extraction projects and at a federal level, meaningful emissions reduction targets for 2030 need to be set.

“For years we have been noticing coastal erosion problems locally,” Darren said.
“This will have a devastating impact on our surf breaks and Bells Beach is already feeling the effects of climate change with local sea levels rising 3mm each year.

“More frequent and intense storm surges smash into the cliff face at Bells Beach creating instability, erosion of fragile cliffs and destruction of dunal systems.

“Popular surf breaks like the famous Bells ‘bowl’ could cease to break as sea levels rise.”

A new interactive web map, Coastal Risk Australia, uses the latest on a new climate change report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to allow people to see the impact on their coastal communities.

The new report incorporates significant advancements in modelling the behaviour of ice sheets, indicating that by 2100 global sea levels could have increased by 0.84 metres, with a stark warning for the future of beaches and coastal towns.

The mapping tool, reflecting the new IPCC projections for the Surf Coast and other coastal communities, can be found on the coastalrisk website