The Coastal Erosion of Greece

The country of Greece sits along the north-western coast of the Mediterranean Sea just to the west of Turkey and eat of Italy. Greece has the second most amount of coastline, about 2 thousand kilometers behind the United Kingdom. Much of this coastline is made up of the many islands under the ownership of Greece and 70% of the total coastline is made of rocky outcroppings as shown in Figure 1. This type of coastline is not of

Figure 1

major concern when it comes to coastal erosion. The main problem that Greece has with coastal erosion is how many marine ecosystems and lagoons are located along the other 30% of the coastline and the percentage of the population living in such close proximity to the coast.

           Even though the sea level rise in the Mediterranean sea is nearly negligible, the wave action and general erosion of the marine ecosystems that scatter the coasts of Greece is causing major problems for the wildlife that live there. Not only are many of the wildlife conservations in danger but over 92% of the total population and nearly 60% of the gross national product  reside within 50 km of the shore. This means that from an economical standpoint, if the coast is eroded to a point where it starts to influence human habitation, many people will be displaced alongside the wildlife. 

          Many organizations are attempting to stop erosion with out the help of the government of Greece. There are no laws in effect to prevent coastal erosion but the population of Greece have been encouraged to populate areas away from the coastline and to not expand existing settlements along the coast. As well as moving people, many of these organizations are defining places along the coast that can be built up by humans as well as protecting the beaches to allow the public access. 

 

Works cited

"Greece." Country Overview and Assessment. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2010. <http://ec.europa.eu/ 
     maritimeaffairs/climate_change/greece_en.pdf>.