Half of the world's beaches could disappear by the end of the century due to climate change
The ongoing climate crisis is on course to destroy half the world's sandy beaches by the end of the century, a new study warns. Sandy shorelines of many high-population areas and tourist hot-spots are threatened by erosion, and surging sea levels. At-risk areas include Surfers' Paradise in Queensland, St Tropez, Honolulu, Copacabana, the Costa del Sol and Weymouth. But researchers offer a glimmer of hope and believe a moderate reduction in greenhouse gas emissions could prevent 40 per cent of the predicted loss. Scroll down for video Researchers from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra in northern Italy analysed 30 years worth of satellite images of sandy beaches. Study author Dr Michalis Vousdoukas, who led the research, said: 'The results indicate around 50 per cent of the world's sandy beaches are at risk of severe erosion. 'Half of the world's beaches could disappear by the end of the century under current trends of climate change and sea level rise. 'The situation can become more critical for small communities highly reliant on tourism.' Sandy beaches occupy more than a third of the global coastline and are valuable in many ways as they provide economic income via recreation and tourism. They are also very environmentally valuable as they provide natural protection from storms and cyclones. However, erosion, sea level rises and changing weather threaten the coast's infrastructure and people. Some countries will be worse hit than others, with The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau facing the loss of over 60 per cent of their white sandy beaches. Overall, Australia would be worst hit with around 7,500 miles (12,000 km ) of beach at risk. Canada, Chile, Mexico, China and the United States would also be greatly affected. 'Between a quarter and a half of the UK's sandy beaches will retreat by more than a hundred metres over the next century, depending on how rapidly the polar ice sheets melt,' according to Professor Andrew Shepherd, Director of the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling at the University of Leeds. The researchers used computer modelling systems to forecast how the beaches, in their currently depleted state, would deteriorate as climate change worsens. Two eventualities of 'representative concentration pathways (RCP)' for global warming were predicted, each representing a future of varying severity. RCP8.5 is the highest level of projected greenhouse gas emissions and RCP4.5 features less intense emissions that span over a long period of time. Researchers looked at how human activity and geological processes causes shoreline retreat as well as the damage caused by storms to make their findings. Dr Suzana Ilic at Lancaster University said: 'This new research shows that about 30 per cent and 60 per cent of low lying areas fronted by sandy beaches will be seriously threatened by erosion, due to climate change under the high emission of greenhouse gases by the middle and the end of the 21st century respectively.' Moderate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions may prevent 40 per cent of this loss, the study authors suggest. Dr Ilic, who was not involved in the study, added: 'It is encouraging to see that reducing emissions from a high to moderate level will result in a reduction of the projected shoreline retreat of 22 per cent by 2050 and 40 per cent by 2100.' The study was published in the journal .