UNLESS politicians come up with long-term solutions to global warming, Island coastal towns will be submerged by rising tides, an engineer warned at the first Climate Change and Civil Engineering Conference on the Isle of Wight.
World scientific and engineering authorities warned of the implications of climate change and predicted the flood risk dangers the south coast could face at last Friday’s event, at Cowes Yacht Haven (CYH).
Event host, consultant civil engineer and chairman of the Isle of Wight branch of the Insititute of Civil Engineers Don McCallum, of Bembridge, said: "Sea levels will rise and coastal Island towns in low-lying areas will be under water at high tide. This building (CYH) will become a boat house.
"Places like Cowes, Ryde, Seaview, Gurnard and Freshwater will be the worst affected. Extensive flooding will lead to a much smaller Island by the year 2100.
"High walls can be built but we won’t stop the onslaught unless politicians look beyond their term of office, in say 20 years’ time. They have their heads in the sand but if we can engineer a problem, my profession can also solve it."
Guests speakers included Ex-NASA glaciologist Dr Bob Thomas, while Island-born environmental consultant Dr Bruce Denness predicted a continued rise in temperatures unless something was done to reduce the effect of greenhouse gases.
Ways civil engineering can help people adapt to climate change conditions and even create changes to the climate, were also discussed.
Students from Ryde School, the Medina Valley Centre and Carisbrooke and Sandown High Schools, asked the experts questions.
Sandown pupil 16-year-old Laura Treagus, who aims to pursue a career in marine biology, said she learned a lot about the science behind climate change and described the conference as an eye-opener.
Reporter: jonm@iwcpmail.co.uk