Coastal zones worldwide face a great variety of environmental impacts associated to climate change, as well as increased anthropogenic pressures of coastal zone urbanization, rapid population growth and crucial shipping fairways. Strong interactions and feedbacks between hydrological, geomorphological, chemical and biological processes guide the morphological evolution of these sensitive coastal zones. Over the last decades coastal erosion has emerged as a widespread problem that causes shoreline retreat and irreversible land losses. Among the most affected and valuable natural systems of the coastal zone are estuaries and deltas. Inter- and supratidal habitats are threatened by expected changes under climate change, such as rising sea level at the mouth and larger variation in river discharge.
The human-induced solutions to cope with natural pressures using different types of hard engineering methods may often aggravate the problems, damaging natural landscape and coastal ecosystems in unexpected and unpredicted ways. Other negative impacts of human activities on littoral environments are chronic and punctual pollution of beaches, estuaries, river deltas, intertidal areas and coastal sediments with associated health risks for human beings. Chronic pollution is often observed in coastal areas close to factories, industries and human settlements - because of waste water discharges, punctual contamination is often linked to beach oiling. Therefore, assessing the impact of current and future climate change and anthropogenic pressure on the coastal zone is a complex task.
In this session we aim to bridge the gap between natural coastal zone dynamics and future response to human influence and climate change. We welcome subjects related to coastal geomorphology: evolution of coastal landforms, coastal morphodynamics, coastline alterations and various associated processes in the coastal zone, e.g. waves, tides and sediment drift, which shape coastal features and cause morphological changes.
The topics may include work on predictions of shoreline change, estuary and delta development and discussions on the effects of human activities and their continuing contribution to coastal changes. The session will also cover submissions on coastal vulnerability to the combined effects of natural and human-related hazards, any type of coastal and environmental sensitivity classifications, and risk assessments.

The Session is Sponsored by the Commission on Coastal Systems (CCS) of the International Geographical Union (IGU) (http://www.igu-ccs.org).