Coastline Degradation as an Indicator of Global Change

Coastal degradation has been widely reported around the world\u27s coasts. The observed degradation can be attributed to the intensification of a wide range of drivers of coastal change, especially an expanding global population and economy. While climate change and the resulting sea level rise will have important adverse effects, it is more difficult to observe such coastal changes relative to other drivers. The best examples are related to temperature rise at low and high latitudes, as seen by the impacts on coral reefs and polar coasts, respectively. This chapter also considers methods to better attribute the role of observed degradation to climate change and how this would support coastal management