The rising tide: monitoring sea levels change to guide adaptive flood management

Abstract: London is one of the world’s most important coastal cities and is located around the Thames Estuary. Quantifying changes in sea levels in the Thames Estuary over the 20th century and early part of the 21st century is vital to inform future adaptive management of flood risk in London. However, there are currently relatively few long, digital records of sea level available in the Thames. Here Ivan Haigh will present a new extensive sea level dataset that we have digitised from historical hand-written tabulated ledgers of high and low water, from the Port of London Authority (PLA). As part of the Thames Estuary 2100 adaptive management plan this new sea level record was used to monitor changes in mean sea-level rise, tidal range and extreme sea levels in the Thames Estuary. Then Ivan will consider implications for London’s novel adaptive flood management plan.