Hot Summer Nights

I was sent an article today regarding the disappearing beaches on Hawaii:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33934617/ns/us_news-environment/

Geologists say more than 70 percent of Kauai’s beaches are eroding while Oahu has lost a quarter of its sandy shoreline. They warn the problem is only likely to get significantly worse in coming decades as global warming causes sea levels to rise more rapidly.

The thing that stuck out to me with this article is that it keeps throwing around the term “rising sea levels” like bad propaganda.  This article is just a fluff piece – the fact is that sea level rise is unproven.  You could probably find a dozen articles supporting sea level rise, but I tend to side with those that take a more balanced look.

I used to think that global warming was a huge problem, but after reading “State of Fear” by Michael Chrichton I have changed my views.  I have a lot more to learn and read on this topic, but it’s something I’m rather interested in.

Beach erosion is a big problem, and is something that I personally care about.  The beaches around my house in Southampton, NY have been getting very small, and with each new Nor’Easter storm that comes through it seems that they get even worse.

This issue was one of the reasons I joined up with Surfrider.  I’m coming to realize that the major problem causing beach erosion is not global warming and sea level rise, but rather the hardened manmade structures that we build along the coast.  It’s these structures that cramp the beach and don’t allow it to move naturally.  Jetties, seawalls, roads, houses, and other similar things don’t allow the beach to move back as storms push back the dunes.  They also starve beaches of natural redistribution of stand from along the shore.

Even if sea level rise was a real threat, I don’t think the miniscule rise would cause such dramatic erosion in certain areas.  Instead, the most dramatic erosion is caused by jetties and seawalls.

Anyway, it’s good that these articles are coming to light, but I’d rather that we focus on the REAL cause of coastal erosion.  If it were up to me I wish we could just remove all the coastal housing and structures.  But that’s nearly impossible right now.  I’m going to personally do more research on this and I’ll post what I find.