ABC Newcastle (Australia): A scientist attending a climate change conference in Newcastle today says tweaking development guidelines is the key to the region's preparedness for sea level rises. The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility is hosting a workshop for researchers, government and business professionals. Research shows thousands of dwellings in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie would be inundated if sea levels rise by 90 centimetres. Research Fellow Sarah Boulter says Councils must be proactive. "The only way that we are going to deal with sea level rise is by planning," she said.
"Unfortunately it means making some difficult decisions about where development occurs and how you deal with existing development. But a lot of Councils are very much embracing those ideas and preparing what we call adaptation plans to deal with those changes for the future."
Ms Boulter says imagery of the Pasha Bulker stuck on Nobbys Beach has re-inforced the potentially deadly risks posed by east coast lows. The ship ran aground in June 2007, at a time when heavy rain and flooding wreaked havoc across the region....
The Pasha Bulker, a ship that ran aground in Newcastle, NSW, Australia in 2007. Shot by One Salient Oversight, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
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