Looking to nature to protect us from climate change
August 29, 2019
For island nations like Singapore, the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather and rising sea levels, are amplified. Traditional methods of protecting Singapore’s shorelines include concrete seawalls or increasing land reclamation heights. In an editorial in The Straits Times, Associate Professor Daniel Friess (NUS Department of Geography) suggests supplementing such methods by leveraging on the benefits provided by nature.
Ideally, the impacts of climate change can be lessened by mitigating climate change itself. A/P Friess points to Singapore’s coastal mangrove forests, which store 1.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide despite constituting a small length of the coast. However, mitigation may not be enough, meaning that Singapore should anticipate and adapt to future climate change.
A/P Friess believes that the best approach for Singapore to cushion the impacts of climate change is to use a combination of hard coastal defences and soft natural solutions. For instance, because coral reefs and mangroves act as sponges to storm waves, they can act as the first line of defence in coastal protection, allowing concrete sea walls to be smaller and cheaper. Furthermore, that mangroves can trap mud and thus help the shoreline keep up with sea-level rise provides an insurance policy to static and inflexible engineered structures. There will also be co-benefits like creating space for recreation; the popularity of the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and the upcoming new nature park at Mandai Mangrove and Mudflat in 2022 exemplify such co-benefits.
Fortunately, examples of such ecological engineering are already present in Singapore; on Pulau Tekong, mangroves were planted within a rock wall to reduce shoreline erosion. Coral reefs are also being restored in the waters off the Southern islands and grown on seawalls. A/P Friess hopes for more of such initiatives to help create a safe, liveable, and “future-proofed” city for the times ahead.
Read the full article here.