Pitfalls of Shoreline Stabilization

Pitfalls of Shoreline Stabilization
Author: J. Andrew G. Cooper
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 340
Release: 2012-06-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400741235

At the coast all is not what it seems. Decades of beachfront development have seen a variety of efforts to stabilize the shoreline to protect ill-placed beachfront property, both from shoreline erosion and from storm damage. Both of these problems become increasingly critical in a time of rising sea level. Many natural beaches are backed by sea walls, while others have been transformed by whole series of groynes, offshore breakwaters and a plethora of other schemes. Many recreational beaches are actually artificial replicas of the real thing, emplaced to protect badly placed infrastructure and maintained only through ongoing costly beach nourishment. However, all of these attempts to stabilize the shoreline are far from benign. Degradation and even complete loss of the all important recreational beach sometimes results from seawall emplacement. Increasingly, the choice of shoreline stabilization approach will depend upon plans for future response to rising seas which in many cases may involve retreat from the shoreline rather than holding the line. This book explores, through a series of case studies from around the globe, the pitfalls of shoreline stabilization and provides a ready reference for those with an interest in shoreline management. It is particularly timely in a time of global change.

The Last Beach

The Last Beach
Author: Orrin H. Pilkey
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2014-11-21
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 082237594X

The Last Beach is an urgent call to save the world's beaches while there is still time. The geologists Orrin H. Pilkey and J. Andrew G. Cooper sound the alarm in this frank assessment of our current relationship with beaches and their grim future if we do not change the way we understand and treat our irreplaceable shores. Combining case studies and anecdotes from around the world, they argue that many of the world's developed beaches, including some in Florida and in Spain, are virtually doomed and that we must act immediately to save imperiled beaches. After explaining beaches as dynamic ecosystems, Pilkey and Cooper assess the harm done by dense oceanfront development accompanied by the construction of massive seawalls to protect new buildings from a shoreline that encroaches as sea levels rise. They discuss the toll taken by sand mining, trash that washes up on beaches, and pollution, which has contaminated not only the water but also, surprisingly, the sand. Acknowledging the challenge of reconciling our actions with our love of beaches, the geologists offer suggestions for reversing course, insisting that given the space, beaches can take care of themselves and provide us with multiple benefits.

Coastal Processes with Engineering Applications

Coastal Processes with Engineering Applications
Author: Robert G. Dean
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2004-03-25
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780521602754

Text on coastal engineering and oceanography covering theory and applications intended to mitigate shoreline erosion.

Small Island Developing States

Small Island Developing States
Author: Stefano Moncada
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 390
Release: 2021-10-19
Genre: Law
ISBN: 3030827747

This book explores how vulnerable and resilient communities from SIDS are affected by climate change; proposes and, where possible, evaluates adaptation activities; identifies factors capable of enhancing or inhibiting SIDS people’s long-term ability to deal with climate change; and critiques the discourses, vocabularies, and constructions around SIDS dealing with climate change. The contributions, written by well-established scholars, as well as emerging authors and practitioners, in the field, include conceptual papers, coherent methodological approaches, and case studies from the communities based in the Caribbean Sea and the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. In their introduction, the editors contextualise the book within the current literature. They emphasise the importance of stronger links between climate change science and policy in SIDS, both to increase effectiveness of policy and also boost scholarly enquiry in the context of whose communities are often excluded by mainstream research. This book is timely and appropriate, given the recent commission by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of a Special Report that aims at addressing vulnerabilities, “especially in islands and coastal areas, as well as the adaptation and policy development opportunities” following the Paris Agreement. Coupled with this, there is also the need to support the policy community with further scientific evidence on climate change–related issues in SIDS, accompanying the first years of implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Dealing with climate change on small islands: Towards effective and sustainable adaptation

Dealing with climate change on small islands: Towards effective and sustainable adaptation
Author: Carola Klöck
Publisher: Göttingen University Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2019
Genre: Climate change mitigation
ISBN: 3863954351

Small islands have received growing attention in the context of climate change. Rising sea-levels, intensifying storms, changing rainfall patterns and increasing temperatures force islanders to deal with and adapt to a changing climate. How do they respond to the challenge? What works, what doesn’t – and why? The present volume addresses these questions by exploring adaptation experiences in small islands across the world’s oceans from various perspectives and disciplines, including geography, anthropology, political science, psychology, and philosophy. The contributions to the volume focus on political and financial difficulties of climate change governance; highlight the importance of cultural values, local knowledge and perceptions in and for adaptation; and question to what extent mobility and migration constitute sustainable adaptation. Overall, the contributions highlight the diversity of island contexts, but also their specific challenges; they present valuable lessons for both adaptation success and failure, and emphasise island resilience and agency in the face of climate change.

Coastline Changes of the Baltic Sea from South to East

Coastline Changes of the Baltic Sea from South to East
Author: Jan Harff
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2017-05-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319498940

This book discusses sea-level and coastline changes. These topics are becoming increasingly important for populations living along the edge of the world’s oceans and seas, especially in areas where eustatic sea-level rise is superimposed on isostatic subsidence and storm-induced coastal erosion. This is the case at the southern and eastern Baltic Sea coast: in the south, glacio-isostatic subsidence enhances the effect of climate-induced sea-level rise and strong storm effects are causing a continuous retreat of the coast. On the eastern coast glacio-isostatic uplift compensates for eustatic sea-level rise, but storm-induced waves are responsible for permanent morphodynamic changes to the coastline. There is an increasing need for protection concepts for defense but also for the economic use of the different types of coastal zones. The elaboration of these management concepts can be facilitated through models that generate future projections of coastal developments in the light of modern climate change. This anthology comprises the results of the research project “Coastline Changes of the southern Baltic Sea – Past and future projection (CoPaF)” funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, which was run by a team of Estonian, German, Lithuanian, and Polish geoscientists and coastal engineers from 2010 to 2013 and overlapped with and complemented the work of COST Action SPLASHCOS supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). As the southern and eastern Baltic serves as a natural laboratory for the investigation of coastal processes, the project’s findings contribute not only to the solution of regional problems in Baltic coastal research and engineering, but also to worldwide interests in description, modelling and parameterization of coastal processes and morphodynamics.

Geographic Information Systems and Applications in Coastal Studies

Geographic Information Systems and Applications in Coastal Studies
Author: Yuanzhi Zhang
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2022-12-07
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1803557419

In recent years, geographic information systems (GIS) and their coastal applications have drawn increasing awareness globally, regionally, and locally. These systems are used to monitor, model, and predict coastal zone issues. New technologies, including advances in GIS platforms and techniques, are being adopted and innovatively applied to coastal environments and disasters, coastal resources, coastal social systems, and coastal urban environments using new algorithms, big data processing, and deep learning approaches. This book examines a variety of GIS applications, providing a comprehensive overview of techniques, approaches, and experiences in GIS for coastal zones.

Beach and Dune Restoration

Beach and Dune Restoration
Author: Karl F. Nordstrom
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2021-12-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1108856608

This new edition - now with Nancy Jackson as a co-author - continues the themes of the first edition: the need to restore the biodiversity, ecosystem health, and ecosystem services provided by coastal landforms and habitats, especially in the light of climate change. The second edition reports on progress made on practices identified in the first edition, presents additional case studies, and addresses new and emerging issues. It analyzes the tradeoffs involved in restoring beaches and dunes - especially on developed coasts - the most effective approaches to use, and how stakeholders can play an active role. The concept of restoration is broad, and includes physical, ecological, economic, social, and ethical principles and ideals. The book will be valuable for coastal scientists, engineers, planners, and managers, as well as shorefront residents. It will also serve as a useful supplementary reference textbook in courses dealing with issues of coastal management and ecology.

Beach Nourishment

Beach Nourishment
Author: Juan J. Munoz-Perez
Publisher: MDPI
Total Pages: 174
Release: 2021-09-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3036516069

Erosion is experienced by most coastlines worldwide, and it is usually attributed not only to sea level rise but also to the retention of sand in dams, the occupation of dry beaches by urbanized areas, the mining of sand as a building material for construction, and so on. Beach nourishment has evolved as the favored erosion-mitigation strategy in many areas of the world. The increasing number of people living on the coast, the safety of those people, and the high values of coastal properties are all factors that have made beach nourishment a cost-effective strategy for managing erosion in many locations. However, a new scenario of sand scarcity and environmental care has arisen in recent decades. There have been many different and interesting cases of various aspects of beach nourishment in recent years. The purpose of this invited Special Issue is to publish the most exciting experience and research with respect to this topic. Thus, novel techniques for designing, executing, and controlling these kinds of works as well as different case studies and their monitoring results and conclusions have been included, in order to present an updated state of the art for marine scientists, researchers, and engineers.