A detailed assessment of vulnerability to climate change in the Gold Coast, Australia

Abstract

Coastal communities in the Gold Coast, Australia, are particularly vulnerable to climate change, considering their exposure to changing sea levels and storms, the sensitivity of the sedimentary system, and the current capacity to respond to future challenges. In this paper we assessed the overall vulnerability of Palm Beach, a Gold Coast suburb, by (i) modeling extreme storms under future sea levels (ii) modeling the response of the beach to extreme storms under future sea levels (iii) assessing the level of adaptation of coastal management and the adaptive capacity of the coastal community. Results show that sea level rise can trigger higher storm surges and extreme erosion events and that the current level of adaptation and adaptive capacity is still insufficient to cope with such challenges.