Plastic Pollution
The world population is living, working, vacationing, increasingly conglomerating along the coasts, and standing on the front row of the greatest, most unprecedented, plastic waste tide ever faced. Washed out on our coasts in obvious and clearly visible form, the plastic pollution spectacle blatantly unveiling on our beaches is only the prelude of the greater story that unfolded further away in the world's oceans, yet mostly originating from where we stand: the land.
Gloucester Point Beach, Virginia
Gloucester Point Beach, Virginia, is a small, community beach on the north shore of the York River estuary a few kilometers upstream from Chesapeake Bay.
Photo of The Month: Weligama, Sri Lanka
Weligama, Sri Lanka is an image from Steve McCurry.
Denying Sea-Level Rise: How 100 Centimeters Divided The State of North Carolina
On the surface, it looks like America is a place where scientists and scientific achievements are held in high regard. However, just below the surface, there is another America. This America is populated by people who, on economic, political or religious grounds, have chosen to reject the consensus of the global scientific community on various topics. By Alexander Glass and Orrin Pilkey.
American Coasts, Past and Future, by John R. Gillis
America had shores long before it had an interior. Its western edge was first colonized by Asian migrants arriving by foot. The second colonization was by ship, this time from the east. But the latest and most transformative colonization comes not by sea but from land, from the interior...
Rising Seas: Past, Present, Future
Adopting a long perspective that interprets sea level changes both underway and expected in the near future, Vivien Gornitz, in her new book Rising Seas: Past, Present, Future, completes a highly relevant and necessary study of an unprecedented age in Earth’s history.
We Need to Retreat From the Beach
As ocean waters warm, the Northeast is likely to face more Sandy-like storms. And as sea levels continue to rise, the surges of these future storms will be higher and even more deadly. We can’t stop these powerful storms. But we can reduce the deaths and damage they cause… An Op Ed by Orrin H. Pilkey.
Take Action to End Global Beach Sand Mining!
We urge you to become part of the movement by signing the petition to end beach sand mining.
Just Washed In
Médano Blanco Coastal Dunes, Argentina
Narrow cordons of coastal dunes stretch for hundreds of kilometers along this part of Argentina’s coast. The Médano Blanco is not far from the arid and windy borderlands with Patagonia, one of the windiest places on Earth.
Surprisingly Few White Sharks Off California Coast, First Census Finds
Satellite tagging studies have demonstrated that white sharks in the northeast Pacific make annual migrations from coastal areas in Central California and Guadalupe Island, Mexico, out to the Hawaiian Islands, and then they return to the same regions of the coast year after year.
Belo Monte hydroelectric dam construction work begins
With most Brazilian eyes firmly fixed on the country’s annual carnival, construction work officially started this week on the controversial Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the Amazon, after reversal of a February suspension ruling.
Melting ice sheets becoming largest contributor to sea level rise
The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass at an accelerating pace, becoming the dominant contributor to global sea level rise, and much sooner than model forecasts have predicted.
Louisiana’s Grand Isle: Mardi Gras Amid Oil-Spill Remnants
In the days and months following the Gulf oil spill, life changed for residents of this seaside paradise. Grand Isle beaches closed.The seafood industry was decimated. Today, Mayor David Camardelle estimates that Grand Isle is 80% back to normal, yet admits tar balls keep washing ashore, likening the oil-spill remnants to a ghost in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s there… then it’s gone.
California Beach fish die-off: Tests show oxygen levels at ‘almost zero’
Such fish kills have been popping up around the world in what one Louisiana scientist calls “dead zones.” The cause of the die-off is nearly always decaying algae. Although the oceans are awash in algae, these microscopic organisms bloom when fed by nutrients such as fertilizers and human and animal waste washing off the land.
Task force formed in Gulf oil spill probe
The Justice Department is creating a unified task force to investigate last year’s massive Gulf oil spill so federal investigators from different agencies can coordinate their overlapping work.
Sustainable Surf Craft, a Project by Kevin Cunningham
Inspired by the beauty of nature yet distressed by the large amounts of man-made debris in the oceans washing up on the beaches where he rides, surfer and artist Kevin Cunningham, embarked on a series of surfboards making, that reclaim trash that washes up onto the shore. It is a dichotomy between the natural and unnatural.
The Lost Emperors
A small colony of emperor penguins on an island off the West Antarctic Peninsula is gone, and the most likely culprit is loss of sea ice caused by warming. Most emperor penguins breed on sea ice, called fast ice, which attaches to the ice shelves and coastlines. This is the first time the disappearance of a colony has been documented.
Storm Xynthia: A Year Later
A year ago the hurricane winds of Storm Xynthia drove the sea over much of the Charente-Maritime and Vendée coastline to devastating effect. Many people lost their lives. France’s Government has set up a new coastal defence plan costing €500 million over six years.
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