Coastal Erosion and Protection in Europe: A Comprehensive Overview

Europe has a long history of managing coastal erosion through a variety of protection strategies, from the defences of the Venice lagoons to coastal land reclamation in the Netherlands.

This book provides a comprehensive review of the entire coastline of Europe and a comparative analysis of erosion problems and solutions in each country. Each chapter discusses the natural and anthropogenic factors in the erosion process and in defence projects design and maintenance, including coastal morphology and wave climate, land use changes and use of coastal areas, the evolution of coastal protection, climate change and political and administrative assessments.

Particular attention is paid to demographic and economic factors influencing coastal erosion in each country and to technical and administrative criteria influencing defence projects design. Lavishly illustrated in full colour throughout, the book represents a definitive reference work on its subject.

Enzo Pranzini is Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Florence, Italy. He is President of the Italian National Group of Environmental Coastal Research, and editor of the Italian Studi Costieri series.

Allan T. Williams is Professor Emeritus at Swansea Metropolitan University, University of Wales, UK. He is author or co-author of over 300 publications, including Beach Management (Earthscan, 2009).

Contributors: George Alexandrakis, Giorgio Anfuso, Edward J. Anthony, Bas Arens, Simon Blott, Glicherie Caraivan, Roger H. Charlier, Boris Chubarenko, Andrew Cooper, Merita Dollma, Vojislav Dragnić, Robert W. Duck, Óscar Ferreira, Kazimierz Furmańczyk, George Ghionis, Yuri N. Goryachkin, Vicente Gracia, Gjovalin Gruda, Saulius Gulbinskas, Hans Hanson, Jürgen Jensen, Nikolaos A. Kampanis, Ruben Kosyan, Marina Krylenko, Jānis Lapinskis, Magnus Larson, Nemanja Malovrazić, Ana Matias, Frank van der Meulen, Kaarel Orviku, Nicolae Panin, Michael R. Phillips, Kristina Pikelj, Nigel Pontee, Serafim E. Poulos, Kenneth Pye, Daria Ryabchuk, François Sabatier, Agustín Sánchez-Arcilla, Klaus Schwarzer, Per Sørensen, Margarita Stancheva, Adrian Stanica, Hannes Tõnisson, Bert van der Valk, Lilian Wetzel and Rimas Žaromskis.