Research
Concrete and steel—or mangroves and forests? When it comes to climate adaptation, nature is much cheaper
Phys.org ·
The Brief
- A study compares nature-based climate adaptation, such as mangroves and forests, with conventional concrete and steel infrastructure like seawalls, dikes, dams and drainage systems.
- The study states that concrete and steel options are expensive and inflexible, while nature-based options can be much cheaper.
- The source article is an excerpt from Phys.org, so the study's specific cost figures and methodology are not available in the provided material.
Why it matters
Science readers working on climate adaptation or infrastructure planning may find evidence that nature-based approaches can be a lower-cost alternative to engineered defences.
Who’s affected
- climate scientists and adaptation researchers
- coastal engineers and infrastructure planners
- policymakers weighing adaptation spending
- #climate adaptation
- #mangroves
- #nature-based solutions
- #coastal protection
- #infrastructure
What's the best way to protect ourselves against climate change? The default is to reach for concrete and steel to build seawalls, dikes, dams and drainage systems. These can work. But they are expensive and inflexible. There's another, much cheaper option which gets vastly less…
Timeline
Earth News article reporting the study's findings published
Earth News - Earth Science News, Earth Science, Climate Change
Concrete and steel—or mangroves and forests? When it comes to climate adaptation, nature is much cheaper