MELBOURNE, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- Human settlements worldwide are increasingly shifting inland as sea levels rise, though poorer regions are being forced to remain exposed to coastal risks, new research shows.
The global study, which analyzed satellite nighttime light data from 1992 to 2019 across 1,071 coastal regions in 155 countries and regions, found 56 percent of coastal settlements relocated further inland, 28 percent stayed put, and 16 percent moved closer to the shore, according to a statement released Wednesday by Australia's Monash University.
Relocation was largely driven by vulnerability and the capacity to respond, said Wang Xiaoming, an adjunct professor at Monash University and lead author of the study published in Nature Climate Change.
"Moving inland is happening, but only where people have the means to do so," he said, adding in poorer regions, people may be forced to stay exposed to climate risks.
Settlements advanced most towards coastlines in South America, which was 17.7 percent, and Asia, 17.4 percent, with Oceania standing out for having some of the closest settlements to the coast globally, the study showed.
Both wealthier and poorer communities in the region were found to be moving towards shorelines, driven by livelihoods or overconfidence in protective infrastructure, which encouraged risky development close to the coast, Wang said.
The study, conducted by Monash University, China's Sichuan University, and researchers from Denmark and Indonesia, warns that relocation inland may become unavoidable as sea levels rise and climate change intensifies, requiring careful long-term planning to avoid widening coastal adaptation gaps. ■