To Save America’s Coasts, Don’t Always Rebuild Them – New York Times

Aftermath of Hurricane Ian, September 28, 2022 (by Florida Fish and Wildlife CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr)

Federal and state taxpayers have spent billions of dollars over the past four decades pumping up beaches in front of coastal properties in what are known as beach nourishment projects. In Florida alone, almost $3 billion in public funds has been spent just to keep beaches in front of investment homes and oceanfront infrastructure…

Why beach sand mining is so dangerous – Times of India

Coastal Sand Mining Awareness Campaign poster created by Awaaz Foundation and BNHS for the UN Convention on Biodiversity Conference in Hyderabad, India 2012 (uploaded by Sumaira Abdulali, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia)

Beach sand mining has been illegal since 1991 when the Coastal Regulation Zone Rules were first notified thirty years ago. Although illegal mining on beaches has continued nevertheless, the scale has been comparatively lesser than in rivers, where it has devasted entire swathes of land and water. Major Indian rivers like the Ganga, Yamuna, Godavari and Kaveri face existential threat…