Coastal erosion is a serious problem in the UK and currently occurs along 17% of the country’s coastline. The problem is worst in England, where 30% of the coastline is eroding, partly due to sea levels rising by 3 millimetres in each year since 1992. Erosion places homes at risk and can wash away sites of strategic and scientific importance, so understanding the processes at work is essential if we are to protect our coastline. Mathematicians such as Vanesa Magar and others at the School of Marine Science and Engineering at the University of Plymouth create models of these processes and use them to predict how erosion might occur and what effect introducing coastal defences will have.
