'We need information on extreme sea levels because of development pressures in flood risk areas and the increased flood risk related to climate change'
- Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, NERC, Annual Report 2007-08
There is unequivocal scientific evidence which suggests that global mean sea levels are rising as a consequence of global warming. However the complexity of predicting sea level rise and the inherent uncertainty involved in this activity means there is little consensus amongst the global scientific community as to actually what extent sea levels will rise over the coming decades.
The High Tide project is being informed by the research of scientists at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory and Liverpool John Moores University. It is a mutual privilege for us to work together, as we have a united interest in embracing this 'uncertainty' by exploring and predicting, possible future scenarios of our changing 'littoral' coastline environments.
Liverpool Bay and the Mersey Estuary have some of the highest tides and most extensive inter-tidal environments in Europe...
'Concern about the consequences of future climatic change and their impact on our environment and life support systems is now almost universal. Even if scepticism persists about the reality of 'greenhouse warming', the inevitability of climatic change cannot be denied - climate varies naturally on all timescales and every aspect of the world we see around us changes in response to these variations.
Although they are global, the way the variations are expressed and their regional impact are highly differentiated. This makes it of exceptional importance to understand, at a regional level, the way our environment has changed in the past, and to use this knowledge realistically in any consideration of the potential effects of future climatic change.
Nowhere is this more important than in a region like the Mersey Basin where the combination of a large population, a highly developed modern infrastructure and low-lying, naturally dynamic coastal zone makes planning for a future where environmental conditions are likely to change quite dramatically a major and complex responsibility.
The past does not provide simple analogues for a future world, but it is the only source of evidence we have for what has actually happened and for what may happen in response to climate changes on the timescales and of the magnitude of those predicted for the next century.'
- Oldfield, F. (1999) Section One: The Background Setting. Ecology and Landscape Development: A History of the Mersey Basin.