Sea level rise looms, even for the best-prepared country on Earth – MONGABAY
With more than a quarter of its land below sea level, the Netherlands has been going to great lengths to protect itself from the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise and extreme weather events like heavy rain. But even with the wealth and experience to address these issues, the future remains uncertain, mainly because a range of possible scenarios could play out after 2050…A misty rain blows against my face as I follow Farah Obaidullah along Scheveningen Beach in the northwest part of The Hague. Despite the wind and drizzle, the shoreline feels calm. Gray waves roll into the sand like long, deep breaths. Machines have raked the beach into a well-manicured carpet of grains and shell fragments…
Increasing Rate of Warming of Oceans + Earth . . .
A troubling study appeared last week indicating that over the past 15 years the Earth absorbed as much heat as it had during the prior 45 years, and most of that excess energy went into warming the ocean…
Seas have drastically risen along southern U.S. coast in past decade – the Washington Post
Multiple new studies highlight a rate of sea level rise that is ‘unprecedented in at least 120 years’ along the Gulf of Mexico and southeastern U.S. coast.
Scientists have documented an abnormal and dramatic surge in sea levels along the U.S. gulf and southeastern coastlines since about 2010, raising new questions about whether New Orleans, Miami, Houston and other coastal communities might be even more at risk from rising seas than once predicted…
Coastal crisis: It’s a race against time, and tide, for those living in Odisha’s coastal villages; here’s why – Down To Earth
Odisha is fast losing its shoreline to rising sea levels. Its adaptation plans must not only be immediate but also foolproof…
It is a race against time, and tide, for those living in Odisha’s coastal villages. Data with the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Chennai, shows that 74 villages in the state are severely affected by shoreline erosion—the highest in the country…
Massive beach restoration project for Orange County coastline approved – CBS | KCAL News
The Federal Government has agreed to a major beach restoration project in Orange County to restore almost 2 million cubic feet of sand lost to storm erosion over the past several years.
The sand will be dredged from the sea and added to replenish the coastline from Seal Beach to Bolsa Chica to Huntington Beach and as far as the Newport Beach Pier.
“We’re experiencing a large amount of receding of sand into the ocean,” said Kevin Pearsall, State Parks Superintendent.
The project will help protect property and roads from flooding. Seal Beach saw flooding in January.
“It’s nerve wracking that they have to do that, but time erodes everything,” said Colleen Walsh, a Bolsa Chica resident…
“Recycling” Glass Back to Sand … For Beaches?
There have been several recent proposals and some projects actually underway to grind up glass bottles and use this ground glass to replenish beaches. Along most shorelines, other than in tropical environments, the dominant mineral making up the beach sand is quartz, which is silicon dioxide (SiO2), the same elemental composition as glass. While this may initially seem like a good solution for replenishing or nourishing disappearing or narrow beaches, this concept is not a sustainable or effective approach.
Initially derived from silica sand glass is a valuable resource that is already in a pure form that can most effectively be recycled or melted down to make more glass, rather than being put on the beach where it will be lost to the ocean over time as it is carried offshore or alongshore…
Retreat in Rodanthe Interactive Feature – the Washington Post
Along three blocks in a North Carolina beach town, severe erosion is upending life, forcing hard choices and offering a glimpse of the dilemmas other coastal communities will face…
Early last year, a house crumbled into the sea in this small Outer Banks community, home to some of the most rapid rates of erosion and sea level rise on the East Coast.
Not long after, another house fell. And then another…
Use of Pulverized Recycled Glass for Beach Nourishment: A Review – Georgia Coastal Research Council (GCRC)
This paper reviews geotechnical, biological, and abiotic analyses conducted on the experimental placement of recycled glass on beaches in Florida. It will also describe the experiences local governments have had when considering the use of recycled glass as an alternative material for beach nourishment.
Coastal erosion caused by increased extreme weather events and sea level rise is escalating the rate and extent to which beaches are washing away. Traditionally, inland and offshore sand and dredged material from rivers, canals, and the ocean have been used to nourish beaches, but these resources are becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain…
How A Used Bottle Becomes A New Bottle – NPR Planet Money
The rise of curbside recycling programs over the past few decades has meant more glass recycling. But for a long time, many recycling centers didn’t have the technology to turn recycled glass into the raw material for new bottles. Instead, recycled glass often wound up being used as a cheap construction material, or even to cover landfills.
Now, with new technology that can better sort glass collected in curbside recycling, more used glass bottles can be turned back into new glass bottles. To see how this works, we went to a glass recycling facility and a bottle factory…
Outside a recycling plant in Jersey City, N.J., there are piles and piles of what looks like garbage.
But it’s actually broken glass…