Serious erosion affecting 1,300km of Malay coastal areas

The Star Online (Malaysia): A total of 1,300km or 29% of the country’s 4,800km of coastal areas are facing serious problems of erosion. Malaysia urgently needs projections on the rise of sea levels to enable the planning of coastal development and to adapt to climate change, said Natural Resources and Environment Ministry Deputy Secretary-General (I) Datuk Aziyah Mohamed.

Speaking at the opening of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) workshop here, she said the projections were also needed to assess future impacts of sea-level rise on coastal areas, as well as the sustainability of coastal settlements in the future.

The IPCC reported that there has been an increasing trend of significant wave heights in the South China Sea and eastern parts of the Andaman Sea, which had directly impacted Malaysian coasts for the last 50 years. The wave height increase may be the result of increasing storm activities in this region….