A VERSATILE PUBLIC OPINION SPEAKS ABOUT A MOBILE COAST LINE : A CASE STUDY IN BRITTANY, WESTERN FRANCE.

Document Type : Peer-reviewed articles

Abstract

The coastal landscape of France is highly mobile, especially where the tidal range exceeds ten meters, like in Northern Brittany, on the English Channel. This mobility is strongly enhanced by storms, some of them having been exceptional during the last decades. The reaction of the local authorities to these storms is also highly variable. Some are getting used to cope with the changing coastline and do not make a great point of having such a mobile feature managed. Others react differently, and declare that storms are dangerous and create new risks along the coastline. The reason behind this difference is a political one. Some local communities use the storm in order to build an image of their coastline. They describe their coasts as vulnerable because they want to refuse the use of new equipment, or new industrial activity. 

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1.  

     

    1.      Regnauld H., Lemasson L., Dubreuil V.  The mobility of coastal landforms under climatic changes : issue for geomorphological and archeological conservation, in J.Hooke editor « Coastal Defence and Earth Sciences Conservation », Geological Society Publishing House, (1998)103-114.
    2.      Fichaut B., Suanez S. Les blocs cyclopéens de l’Ile de Banneg (archipel de Molène, Finisterre) : accumulation supratidales de haute énergie. Géomorphologie, Relief, Processus, Environnement, (2008) 1 : 15-32.
    3.      Regnauld H.,Pirazoli P.A., Morvan G., Ruz M. Impacts of storms and evolution of the coastline. Marine Geology, vol 210, (2004) 1-4: 325-337.
    4.      Mézin L., Le Bouedec G., Haudrère P., Les compagnies des Indes, Editions Ouest France (1999) : 1 -324.
    1.     Pian S., Regnauld H., Menier D. Interactions nature/société et vulnérabilité du littoral : quelques exemples en Bretagne Sud. Actes du colloque international pluridisciplinaire « le littoral : subir, dire, agir » (2008)  http://www.ifresi.univ-lille1.fr/Littoral2008/Themes/Theme_4/Seance1/Pian.pdf
    6.      Pirazzoli P.A., Regnauld H., Lemasson L.  Changes in storminess and surges in Western France during the last century. Marine.Geology., 210 (2004) : 307-323. 
    7.      Lespagnol  A., Messieurs de Saint Malo, une élite négociante au temps de Louis XIV. Presses Universitaires de Rennes  (1996) : 1-334.
The Egyptian Journal of Environmental Change
Volume 1, Issue 1
October 2009
Pages 13-18

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics