The North Beach cottages at Chatham, Cape Cod as of Feb, 2010. Many are now gone by erosion from storms. Chatham, Cape Cod. Captions And Photo source: ©© Christopher Seufert Photography
Excerpts;
“At the same time the population is moving towards the coast the coast is also moving to that population,” explained Rob Thieler of the U.S. Geological Survey Science Center in Woods Hole.
“The coastal population is increasing, more than 50 percent of the U.S. lives on the coast and erosion is present in all 30 coastal states including the Great Lakes. Sixty to 80 percent of the coast is eroding…”
NOAA’s State Of The Coast, Interactive Map
The coast is substantially more crowded than the U.S. as a whole. In 2010, over 123 million people, or 39 percent of the nation’s population, lived in Coastal Shoreline Counties, representing less than 10 percent of the U.S. land area (excluding Alaska). This situation presents coastal managers with the challenge of both protecting coastal ecosystems from a growing population, and protecting a growing population from coastal hazards.
Changing Climate, Changing Coast, A Slideshow; Rob Thieler
The Human Shore: Seacoasts In History
Historian John R. Gillis explores the deep history of seacoasts, the original home of humankind…
Coastal and dune erosion, Lecount Hollow beach, Cape Cod. Photo source: ©© Rebecca Siegel
