Scientists at the University of Southampton are warning that future coastal impact studies must take account of extreme sea levels – a phenomenon expected to occur more frequently as rising waters combine with high tides and storm surges to potentially devastating effect.

A new study published today in Nature Communications – led by the University of Central Florida and involving experts from Southampton, Germany and the Netherlands – suggests that extreme events currently expected to happen on average once every 100 years could, in vulnerable coastlines around the world, occur every decade or even every year by 2050.

As sea levels continue to rise because of global warming, much less intense and far more frequent moderate storms could cause as much damage to vulnerable coastal communities in the future as currently only occurs during rare extreme storms. Click here to read the report