Coastal development hazards

<p>A coastal development hazard is something that affects the natural environment by human activities and products. As <a href="/facts/Coast/RBD0wxn3">coasts</a> become more developed, the vulnerability component of the equation increases as there is more value at risk to the hazard. The likelihood component of the equation also increases in terms of there being more value on the coast so a higher chance of hazardous situation occurring. Fundamentally humans create hazards with their presence. In a coastal example, <a href="/facts/Erosion/gaGJXy0W">erosion</a> is a process that happens naturally on the <a href="/facts/Canterbury_Bight/yKFXeNVW">Canterbury Bight</a> as a part of the coastal <a href="/facts/Geomorphology/MDf2I2h5">geomorphology</a> of the area and strong long shore currents. This process becomes a hazard when humans interact with that coastal environment by developing it and creating value in that area.
</p><p>A <a href="/facts/Natural_hazard/hxEjceDk">natural hazard</a> is defined as the release of <a href="/facts/Energy/wd8PrQM7">energy</a> or materials that threaten humans or what they value. In a coastal context these hazards vary temporally and spatially from a rare, sudden, massive release of energy and materials such as a major <a href="/facts/Storm/tgStaeS3">storm</a> event or <a href="/facts/Tsunami/N3xGNHBl">tsunami</a>, to the continual chronic release of energy and materials such long-term <a href="/facts/Coastal_erosion/nIj8kCHP">coastal erosion</a> or <a href="/facts/Sea-level_rise/Pb5MGJxb">sea-level rise</a>. It is this type coastal hazard, specifically around erosion and attributes surrounding erosion that this article will focus on.
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Coastal development hazards open-in-new

Coastal development hazards