IV. Retreating Shorelines
181
The Holderness Coast (Yorkshire, England) has retreated 1.6 m per hundred
years for the last 2,000 years.
East of Ponce, on Puerto Rico, the coast made up variably of beaches, mangrove
swamps, alluvial plains and rip rap positioned by man is eroding on 50% of its
length.
Coastal erosion which is quite severe in the area of the Rosetta mouth of the Nile
and the Ras-el-Bar, Egypt, has been shown by Apollo-Soyuz photographies.
In Italy, massive settlement of coastal regions, added to touristic and industrial
use, enlargement of harbors, construction of coastal defenses, pumping of
underground water and reclamation works have accelerated natural subsidence.
Inland modifications for a variety of purposes have compounded the ensuing
problem of Italian beaches 3. According to a report of the Commissione di Studio
Sistemazione Idraulica e Difesa del Sudo of 1970-1974, only rare stretches of the
Italian coasts are still subject to natural conditions.
On the coast of Nigeria, south of Lagos and B6nin, coastal erosion causes beach
retreat at a rate of 5 m (16.4 ft) a year. On the Indian Ocean, the East Coast of
Africa has beach erosion problems, to a large extent man-made : dynamite
fishing, sand mining, salt extraction, irrigation and building of coastal structures
have contributed to beach erosion. They have led a.o. to degradation of the beach,
destruction of nesting sites for turtles, destruction of houses and hotels and
blocking of river channels (W.M. Kudoja, 1995, 'X2auses of beach erosion on the
East Africa Coast", BordomerAbstr.).
If natural causes bring about coastal erosion, and, undoubtedly, sea-level rise is
leading to the "drowning of beaches", anthropic action plays a major role in
shoreline retreat 4. Coastal erosion and beach retreat are due to sea-level rise,
storms, hurricanes and anthropic action. Man may accelerate the process by
having created a greenhouse effect on earth and additionally by local actions.
Roads, board-walks and buildings stand in the path of shifting sands.
Studies conducted at the University of North Carolina have revealed an
accelerated deterioration of salt marshes along the coast of South Carolina. Here,
the marshes already threatened by a relative sea level rise that averages 1.9 mm
year over the last fourty years, are placed in additional jeopardy by sand removal
for beach nourishment on the nearby developped barrier islands.
181
The Holderness Coast (Yorkshire, England) has retreated 1.6 m per hundred
years for the last 2,000 years.
East of Ponce, on Puerto Rico, the coast made up variably of beaches, mangrove
swamps, alluvial plains and rip rap positioned by man is eroding on 50% of its
length.
Coastal erosion which is quite severe in the area of the Rosetta mouth of the Nile
and the Ras-el-Bar, Egypt, has been shown by Apollo-Soyuz photographies.
In Italy, massive settlement of coastal regions, added to touristic and industrial
use, enlargement of harbors, construction of coastal defenses, pumping of
underground water and reclamation works have accelerated natural subsidence.
Inland modifications for a variety of purposes have compounded the ensuing
problem of Italian beaches 3. According to a report of the Commissione di Studio
Sistemazione Idraulica e Difesa del Sudo of 1970-1974, only rare stretches of the
Italian coasts are still subject to natural conditions.
On the coast of Nigeria, south of Lagos and B6nin, coastal erosion causes beach
retreat at a rate of 5 m (16.4 ft) a year. On the Indian Ocean, the East Coast of
Africa has beach erosion problems, to a large extent man-made : dynamite
fishing, sand mining, salt extraction, irrigation and building of coastal structures
have contributed to beach erosion. They have led a.o. to degradation of the beach,
destruction of nesting sites for turtles, destruction of houses and hotels and
blocking of river channels (W.M. Kudoja, 1995, 'X2auses of beach erosion on the
East Africa Coast", BordomerAbstr.).
If natural causes bring about coastal erosion, and, undoubtedly, sea-level rise is
leading to the "drowning of beaches", anthropic action plays a major role in
shoreline retreat 4. Coastal erosion and beach retreat are due to sea-level rise,
storms, hurricanes and anthropic action. Man may accelerate the process by
having created a greenhouse effect on earth and additionally by local actions.
Roads, board-walks and buildings stand in the path of shifting sands.
Studies conducted at the University of North Carolina have revealed an
accelerated deterioration of salt marshes along the coast of South Carolina. Here,
the marshes already threatened by a relative sea level rise that averages 1.9 mm
year over the last fourty years, are placed in additional jeopardy by sand removal
for beach nourishment on the nearby developped barrier islands.