The D-Day beaches are not immune to the consequences of global warming. With erosion and rising water levels, the 100 km of Normandy coastline risk seeing their face change irremediably.
Pointe du Hoc or the artificial port of Arromanches. Some emblematic sites of the Normandy landings are in danger due to global warming. This is also the case for Utah Beach, where one of the oldest museums of D-Day history is located.
Built on the very spot where American troops landed, it is today threatened by coastal erosion.
“Since 2022, we have had authorization to put back sand. 7,000 m3 per year to try to protect ourselves,” indicates Charles de Vallavieille, mayor of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and head of the Utah Beach museum, to BFM Normandie. .
Balance between preservation and accessibility
So to keep these places of memory as intact as possible, different solutions are imagined. “We can put fascines in place. The small pieces of wood will be placed behind the stakes to make a sand trap,” explains Amélie Sanson, coastal guard for SyMEL (Syndicat Mixte Littoraux de la Manche).
“The dune will re-silt and over time it will re-vegetate. To try to regain some space in the dune environment,” she adds.
And in a place rich in history like Utah Beach, the challenge is to find a balance between environmental preservation and public accessibility. This is, among other things, the mission of the coastal conservatory, owner of nearly 70 hectares of land around the beach.
“For example, you have a small path that runs along the dune so if you have erosion, we will move the site back. We are obliged to adapt to the effects of climate change on certain portions while still allowing the passage of people” , explains Isabelle Rauss, project manager at the conservatory.
The threat of rising waters
On the other beaches of Calvados, rising waters also threaten the remains of the landing. So much so that they could be forced to disappear if the rise in global temperatures continues.
For Benoît Laignel, co-president of the Norman IPCC, “with a trajectory of 2.8°C, the rise in sea levels is high, from 60 centimeters to one meter. It all depends on the measures that we put in place in the next 10 years.”
At Pointe du Hoc, the cliff has already been cut by more than 20 meters since the landing in 1944.
Adrien Petiteau, with Marine Langlois
