Development Boom Threatens Coastal Lifestyle
Rapid growth along America's coastlines is destroying what made them so popular in the first place.
Photo 1 of
People move to the seaside for the tranquility of the waves, the salty sea breezes and the blue horizons; they go for the opportunity to swim, boat, dive and surf. The urge to live near the beach is so widespread that 1,500 new homes go up on U.S. coastlines every day, and more than half of the country's 300 million people live in coastal counties -- counties that account for only 17 percent of the contiguous U.S. land mass.
But coastal ecosystems are highly sensitive to the pollution and heavy traffic pressure that go along with rapid development. Increased rates of erosion, dune and wetlands destruction, and the dirtying of waters from sewage, runoff and industry decimate fish, bird and even marine mammal populations -- critically impairing the dynamic and fragile shoreline ecosystems.
Signs that our coasts are being pushed to the brink include the spread of red tides and other blankets of toxic algae; the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, devoid of ocean life; invasions of exotic species; the closing of oyster and other shellfish fisheries; and bizarre blooms of jellyfish. Beaches are closed more often due to high bacterial counts in the water.
Yet as warning bells sound, more and more people continue to flock to the coast, creating additional pressure on the ecosystems there and possibly putting themselves in harm's way. Global warming will have a dramatic effect on U.S. coastlines. It's already increasing the frequency and intensity of storms in the mid-Atlantic, and as sea levels rise, coastal residents are increasingly subject to flooding and storm surges.
Each week more than 3,000 people move to Southern California's coast and almost 5,000 to Florida's. The state of Florida is encouraging the rapid growth rate, even offering below-market property insurance to prop up development. Other state governments, in beach vacation spots such as Cape Cod in Massachusetts, have stepped in to offer insurance to homeowners as private insurers pull out en masse.
We could be loving our shorelines to death. But there are solutions we can put in place today that will help reduce the impact we have on our coasts. Curbing global warming pollution can help prevent a catastrophic rise in sea levels. Reducing water pollution, offshore oil drilling and unwise coastal development can also help ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy the coastal lifestyle.
