Coastal erosion threatens to wash away D-Day beaches

Visitors pepper the length of Utah Beach in Normandy, France, some pausing to take photos, others simply staring out across the English Channel. 

One passerby in a bright orange windbreaker stops to scoop a handful of sand into a plastic bag and tucks it into his satchel. 

"Dad always wanted to come back. He just never had the chance" another man said.

Nearby, a mother and daughter crouch down and run their hands across the powder-smooth surface, then photograph the mark they've left.

The hallowed beaches of the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, are one of the main attractions for the thousands who are making the pilgrimage to the coast of northern France to celebrate the 80th anniversary of its liberation from the Nazis. 

Nearly 150,000 Allied troops landed or parachuted into the invasion area that day, including more 14,000 Canadians. Of those Canadians, 381 were killed, 584 were wounded, and 131 were captured.

But those who wish to pay their respects to the sacrifices made along that coastline in 1944 are doing so on borrowed time. As a result of coastal erosion, some of the beaches of D-Day are disappearing.

Two-thirds of the coast is already eroding, according to a 2023 report from the Normandy Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is composed of regional specialists and scientists. 

The report from the Normandy IPCC, which explores the local consequences of climate change, also mentions flooding concerns. It references a 2020 study by the national statistics bureau of France (INSEE), which reveals more than 122,000 residents and 54,000 jobs are "threatened by this marine flooding hazard." 

There's also concern about the future of the monuments, museums, and memorabilia that adorn the beaches where the allies landed during the Second World War in 1944. The Normandy tourism office lists 124 places of remembrance across the region, the majority of which are near the coast.

Xavier Michel, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Caen Normandy, has led research focused on social perceptions of D-Day sites in the context of climate change. 

He found sentimental attachment to the beaches was a common response. 

"Some people told us the emotion regarding this place comes from this unique location," he said.  

"It wouldn't be possible to recreate it in the same way, the same link between visitors and heritage."