The way of water: Can anything be done to save our disappearing beaches? – WA Today

Freemantle Beach, Australia (by Graeme Churchard CC BY 2.0 via Fliickr).

South Beach is a far cry from those wide-open ultra-Aussie surf destinations such as Scarborough and Trigg (the bit in front of Wilson Park is barely a kilometre long)…So you can imagine my shock when I recently popped down for a jog and a swim to discover that a good chunk of the white stuff that was so fundamental to my experience of Fremantle had disappeared…

Beach erosion: Satellites reveal how climate cycles impact coastlines – UNSW Sydney

Collaroy Beach (by Mark D CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr).

New research shows coastlines across the Pacific Ocean may respond differently to El Niño and La Niña cycles.

Researchers from UNSW Sydney have analyzed millions of satellite photos to observe changes in beaches across the Pacific Ocean. The findings, published in Nature Geoscience today (Feb. 10), reveal for the first time how coastlines respond to different phases of the El-Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle…

Coastal residents fear ‘hideous’ seawalls will block waterfront views – the Guardian

Miami Beach - South Pointe Park - Atlantic Ocean Beach (by Jared CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

There were more than a few issues with a recent federal plan to wall Miami off from the dangers of climate change.

The $5bn proposal involved building a massive concrete seawall in the fragile marine ecosystem of Biscayne Bay. It included using taxpayer money to elevate private waterfront mansions, while constructing a wall through the middle of downtown and sometimes low-income neighborhoods…

USGS Remote Sensing Data Tracks Coastal Erosion from California Storms – USGS

Views of the Santa Cruz, California coast before (Sept. 13, 2022) and after (Jan. 5, 2023) the powerful storms of early January 2023. (by USGS, public domain)

The USGS has collected and released topographic data that show the erosional effects of the January 2023 storms on the coast for the Santa Cruz region of California…Comparing the data with pre-storm conditions mapped in September 2022 provide “before” and “after” perspectives of the effects of the January storms. These data have been released under USGS Emergency Use Data authorities for data that have immediate or time-sensitive relevance to public health and safety…