Home of golf 'could disappear by 2050'

The world's most famous golf course could sink into the sea by 2050, a climate change expert warned today. Professor Jan Bebbington raised the possibility that the Old Course at St Andrews - known as the home of golf - could be lost through coastal erosion by then. The St Andrews University academic was asked to prepare a report visualising the effects of climate change on Scotland's future society. She decided to write a speech, to be delivered at an imaginary carbon forum in 2050, aimed at encouraging countries to meet their emissions targets. It describes how Scotland adapted to more severe winter storms, flooding and rising sea levels by coordinating a "managed retreat from vulnerable coastal locations". But it also refers to the "sorrow at the last British Open played in St Andrews" before the course was claimed by... [read full story]