The Unsustainable Harvest of Coastal Sands – Science
Although coasts form a crucial part of the natural wealth of the planet, their conservation is increasingly jeopardized owing to the growing human footprint. With 50% of the world’s population living within 150 km of a coastline, increasing urbanization and population pressures are threatening these fragile ecosystems…
Is Earth in a New Time Period: The Plasticene? – Frontiers for Young Minds
Earth has a special calendar called the geologic time scale…We are currently in the Holocene Epoch, but some scientists believe we have entered a new time called the Anthropocene or the “Age of Humans” because of our impact on the planet. One of the biggest changes humans have made is inventing and using plastic..Because plastic is now found everywhere, some scientists, like us, think we have entered a new stage in Earth’s history called the Plasticene…
The global impact of sand mining on beaches and dunes – Ocean & Coastal Management
Beaches and coastal dunes have always supplied sand for a wide range of uses, and initially the extracted volumes were limited to buckets, wheelbarrows, or small pickup truck loads. However, starting in the late twentieth century, and thanks to urban development, especially for coastal tourism, coastal and river sand has been extracted at an accelerated pace, and on a much grander scale…
Santa Veronica Beach, Atlantico, Caribbean coast, Colombia: A model of small community, beach loss, wrong responses; By Nelson Rangel-Buitrago, Adriana Gracia & William J. Neal
Santa Veronica is one of numerous recreational beach developments along Colombia’s Caribbean Coast most sharing a similar history of shoreline retreat, perceived as shoreline erosion, and the attempt to hold the shoreline in place through the use of shore-hardening structures.