County warns businesses to stop mining sand, Maui
While sand mining is not illegal here, some community members are concerned about the resource being depleted and shipped off-island and archaeological damage. Mayor Alan Arakawa is among the concerned, saying the sand is needed for Maui projects and replenishing beaches.
This Chic’s Beach resident wants you to have something back for keeping the beach clean
A couple, resident of Chesapeake Bay Beach (aka Chic’s beach), Virginia, launched Your Better Beach for the summer. Beachgoers can pick up plastic containers from participating businesses near Chic’s Beach, fill them up with glass and plastic found in the sand, and return full containers for discounts at the merchants.
Impact of 2004 Asian tsunami could have been reduced with mangroves
Many of Indonesia’s mangrove forests were cleared before 2004 for shrimp farms (aquaculture) – subsequent research showed that mangroves and other forests could help protect coastlines and people from the force of tsunamis, hurricanes, and rising sea levels.
NOAA Asks Public to Report Injured Whales
Humpback whales are dying in unusually high numbers off of the Atlantic coast, from Maine to North Carolina, and the federal government is asking the public to report any more sightings of whales. Federal officials reported last week that 41 whales have died in the past 15 months in what marine scientists coin an “unusual mortality event.”
Sea level rise poses serious threat to Charleston; By Orrin H. Pilkey
Rising seas are the first truly global environmental disaster related to climate change. Millions of people will be forced from their homes as the seas drown the atoll nations, devastate much of barrier-island and river-delta civilizations and, of course, invade the world’s coastal cities including Charleston.
Battling erosion an endless job for South Carolina beach towns
In South Carolina, beach renourishment is a never-ending job…
Slathering on sunscreen at the beach? It may be destroying coral reefs
Studies show that oxybenzone, a common chemical found particularly in spray-on sunscreens, contributes to coral bleaching and leaves reefs deformed.
Orca pod filmed hunting whale calf in ‘unprecedented’ California killing spree
In an “unprecedented” rash of attacks, a pod of killer whales in Monterey Bay, California, has killed four gray whales in a week, a phenomenon one researcher hasn’t seen in her 30-year career.
How Would Just 2 Degrees of Warming Change the Planet?
Why are climate scientists so alarmed about a worldwide temperature increase of just 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius)?