Slipping away: Erosion forces Olympic National Park to take a hard look at Kalaloch Lodge – the Seattle Times

Kalaloch Lodge, on the west coast of Washington's Olympic Peninsula (by Ron Sipherd CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

Kalaloch is the third-most-visited of Olympic National Park’s nine districts…Kalaloch Lodge, run on a concessionaire’s contract by the global entertainment/hospitality company Delaware North…has grown into a beachfront hotel with a restaurant overlooking the ocean, a small grocery store, a campground and nearly 50 cabins sitting on the same bluffs where the Beckers built their rustic resort 95 years ago. Except there’s less bluff. And less of it every year….

In the Bahamas, a Constant Race to Adapt to Climate Change – the New York Times

The western edge of the Abaco's on the way into Marsh Harbour in the Bahamas (by Daniel Piraino CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

Rising seas and the ongoing threat of hurricanes and storm surges have forced the Caribbean nation to become a laboratory for climate adaptation.

At the United Nations climate summit in Egypt last year, Prime Minister Philip Davis of the Bahamas emerged as one of the most impassioned speakers among the more than 100 heads of state in attendance.

“We have to believe that a safer, better future is possible,” he told the gathering. “We believe that action — real, concerted action — can save the planet and save our human race…”

Letting the Sea Have Its Way – Hakai Magazine

Photo at top: Aerial View of the Medmerry Managed Realignment Scheme (by Number 10 CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

On May 10, a four-bedroom house perched on the beach of a North Carolina barrier island in the town of Rodanthe collapsed into the ocean. It was not the victim of a violent hurricane strike or storm surge. Rather, a low-pressure system coupled with a high tide drew ocean waves onto the shoreline, leaving heaps of sand on the prophetically named Ocean Drive. Then—in that viral video moment—the water gently pulled the house loose and set it to bob upon the sea. It was not the first house—this year! that day!—nor will it be the last.This is reality in the 21st century…

Life’s no beach for Thais affected by sand mining – Mekong Eye

River Barge, Vietnam (by Dennis Jarvis CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr).

Illegal sand mining has been an ongoing issue in Thailand’s section of the Mekong River due to fragmented governance and “influential people.”

Crowds of locals and tourists are drawn to Had Hae – a sandy beach that emerges when the level of the Mekong River falls in That Phanom district in Thailand’s northeast Nakhon Phanom province, which borders Laos.

The beach, which looks like an island in the middle of the river, is filled with visitors and local people’s makeshift stalls selling food and other goods during the summer…

Mekong Delta pays a high price from sand mining – Mekong Eye

The need for sand to build roads and infrastructure in Vietnam charges ahead with few restraints as land and houses are lost.

The only traces of Long Phu Thuan, an islet in the Mekong River in Vietnam’s Dong Thap province, can now only be found in old maps.

Much of the islet belonged to Le Van Phi, a 70-year-old farmer. Back in 1976, he explored the islet and converted 0.4 hectares of it into farmland. He grew corn, soybeans and chili peppers in the dry season, and rice in the flooding season…