Coastal Restoration Trust of New Zealand

Coastal Dune Ecosystem Reference Database

The sea level rise risk Popular Article

Author
Priestly, R.; Levy, R.; Milfont, T.; Naish, T.; Heine , Z.
Year
2021
Publisher / Organisation
Landscape Architecture Aotearoa
Summary
Following a recent storm surge in Wellington, some media coverage expressed surprise that 30cm of sea-level rise – an unavoidable amount projected to happen by the middle of this century – would turn a one-in-100-year coastal flood into an annual event. Our recently published research survey confirms that many New Zealanders (38.2%) indeed underestimate current and projected sea-level rise. But it also shows a similar proportion (35%) overestimate it, and only about about a quarter (26.9%) are in line with current understanding of sea-level rise.