Landmark Beach in Lagos is the world’s top shrinking tourist beach

Most countries have beaches, but many of us don't know that beaches are also directly impacted by increasing sea levels because of the climate crisis.

Over one-third of the world's coastline is made up of sandy beaches. The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission reveals a distressing possibility: up to half of the world's sandy beaches may be lost by the end of this century.

HawaiianIslands.com examined data from the European Commission that predicts how global shorelines will change by 2100. Using the data, the average change in shoreline length (measured in meters) was calculated for the top-rated beaches on Trip Advisor in each country. 

By 2100, Landmark Beach in Lagos, Nigeria, would have lost more beachfront than any other popular tourist destination in the world (918.3 meters).

The North American tourist beach that will shrink the most by 2100 (265.9 m) is Playa Akumal in Cancun, Mexico.

The popular beaches of Lagos are being transformed into an elitist privilege due to privatization and urbanization, as entry fees increasingly become the norm. Though devastating floods are now an annual occurrence in the city and its beaches, a deeper existential threat looms over both.

The Nigerian and Moroccan coastlines are home to over half of the African tourist beaches at greatest risk from rising sea levels. The Lagos landmark beach could go backward by roughly a kilometre. Already a major problem in the area, flooding is made worse by a drainage system that is overworked due to neglect and inadequate garbage removal.