Threats to the UK's coastline
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Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe how the UK's coastline is at risk from threats such as rising sea levels.
Key learning points
- The UK's coastline is at risk due to sea level rise as a result of climate change.
- Rising sea levels are speeding up rates of erosion, leading to the east coast of England eroding quickly.
- When cliffs erode quickly they put homes and buildings on top of the cliffs at risk of falling into the sea.
- Some parts of the UK's coastline are eroding at a rate of more than 2 metres a year.
Keywords
Global warming - Global warming is the increase in Earth's average temperature over a long period of time.
Climate change - Climate change is a large-scale and long-term change in the planet’s climate, including weather patterns and average temperatures.
Sea level - Sea level is the average height reached by the sea or an ocean, mesaured between high tide and low tide.
Erosion - Erosion is the process of Earth’s surface, e.g. rock or soil, being worn away and transported from its original site.
Risk - Risk means the possibility that something bad or unpleasant might happen to either the built or the natural environment.
Common misconception
That climate change causes global warming, or that climate change and global warming are the same thing.
Global warming is the rise in average temperatures as a result of the greenhouse effect. Climate change is changes to weather patterns (including temperatures and rainfall patterns) as a result of global warming.
Teacher tip
Use old and new maps to work out distances of settlements from cliffs in different time periods as evidence of coastal retreat. Students could also track and list buildings, roads or entire settlements that have been lost to the sea as a result of coastal erosion.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
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