EXTINCTION Rebellion protesters took to Studland to demonstrate the effect that rising sea levels could have on the coastal town.

The climate activists placed high tide ‘signposts’ at points along Ferry Road on Thursday, June 10, showing how climate change modelling suggests high tides would reach in 2040, 2060, 2080 and 2100.

The group also produced a number of banners and placards so that users of the ferry understood what they were doing.

Matt Sheard, of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole XR said: “We wanted to raise awareness of sea level rise. We asked people to support Extinction Rebellion to put pressure on governments to act now.

“If they did not want to join XR we suggested they contact their MP to express their concern that not enough is being done to tackle global heating.

“We also suggested Five Simple Things that they could do to reduce their personal impact on the planet. Overall, the responses have been very positive.”

This action was part of a nationwide protest by Extinction Rebellion called Make The Wave and was in preparation for the G7 summit held in Cornwall from June 11 to June 13.

The G7 Summit will play a crucial role in climate negotiations this year, laying the path for the G20 Summit and COP26.

Greg Lambe from Bournemouth said: “We aim to send an unambiguous message to our government and other world leaders that the inaction we’ve seen on the climate and ecological crisis has to change and change now.

“The Covid 19 pandemic offered governments a unique chance to change the status-quo but so far they have not seized the opportunity. It is for this reason that we need a proper legal framework like the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill to force the government to protect at-risk areas, such as Studland, from climate catastrophe now.

“We need to protect our coastlines for ourselves, for nature, and the generations to come who will have to inhabit what we bequeath them.”

Extinction Rebellion is pressing the government to adopt the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill, a new law written with contributions from prominent scientists and academics.