History Has Lessons for Post-Sandy America, by John R. Gillis

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Americans are finally beginning to ask themselves whether or not it might be advisable to build up to the edge of the sea. It is dawning on us that we are dealing with a human-made rather than natural disaster…

Hurricane Sandy Challenges Short-Term Thinking On Nation’s Coasts

America is an aggressively coastal nation. While accounting for just 13 percent of the nation’s total land mass, coastal counties, including those along the two oceans and the Great Lakes, are home to roughly half the U.S. population, the authors noted, and 60 percent of civilian income…

Rhode Island’s Eroding Coast: A Serious Problem

Rhode Island’s coastline is in a natural and constant state of flux. The coastline is altered most during big storms such as hurricanes and nor’easters. High waves wash away or damage dunes that protect land further inland.

Seeping Arctic Methane Has Serious Implications for Florida Coastline

The more the ice cap melts, the more methane is released into the atmosphere, and the more the climate warms. This phenomenon causes sea levels to rise, which is particularly problematic along the flat Florida coastline, where a 1-foot rise in sea level could cause anywhere from 10 to 100 feet of shoreline retreat..

Jobs-short Spanish town to build on ‘paradise’ beach

A jobs-starved town in southern Spain has sparked uproar by agreeing on a scheme to build 350 homes and a batch of hotels with 1,400 rooms on unspoiled land along a “paradise” beach, by the Andalusian town of Tarifa. The indignation is also a symptom of the damage done to Spain’s coastline in decades of unrestrained construction.