Cronulla on the web cam with normal tide (left) and king tide : photo courtesy Coastalwatch

Environment News

Australia's King Tides prompt panic, excitement, concern

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 13 January, 2009 : - - Large seas and hazardous ocean conditions caused by a king tide have generated both concern and excitement across Australia over the last few days. The king tide has given Australians glimpses of what the coast may look like in the future as a result of global warming.

The king tide peaked at just over 2.05 metres, at 9.50am AEDT+11 on eastern shores. The swell slowly increased over the weekend, with bigger sets by Monday morning. Chris Lane, the Founder of Coastalwatch and General Manager of CoastalCOMS, the research and development company of Coastalwatch, said "Coastalwatch monitors beach conditions at more than 100 beach locations around Australia.”

“The data collected regarding the king tide will provide valuable understanding of coastal events that will play an integral role in understanding swimming risk and erosion levels at our beaches,” Lane concluded.

Phil Watson, the Team Leader of the Department of Environment and Climate Change’s (DECC) Coastal Unit, has launched a program to document the flooding impacts of the highest tide visible during daylight hours, “It will allow everybody to get a glimpse into the future when mean sea level will be higher than today,” Watson says.

“But”, says Watson, “if sea level rise continues to increase at current measured rates due to climate change then scientists project sea level along the NSW coastline could be 90 centimetres higher than today by the end of the century.”

As for surfing conditions, Jason Haynes, Hurly Australia’s Marketing Manager said  “Whale Beach this morning saw good, clean three to four foot sets …best its been in about four weeks if you got up early before the tide.”

In partnership with coastal experts at the Griffith Centre for Coastal Management at Griffith University, Coastalwatch provides monitoring and reporting services for Gold Coast City as a part of their strategic management of sandy beaches.

The Gold Coast City Council is proactively trying to protect their beaches from erosion, and their efforts were successful as sandy beached were still visible during the king tide.

For vision of the king tide check it out here or visit coastalwatch.com and follow the links to ‘surfing news’.

www.coastalwatch.com

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Source: Coastalwatch

Environment - Surfersvillage