Section 3: A Look at Threatened Waves and Responses to the Threats
San Onofre State Beach was the location of a very public battle over a coastal development project. At the mouth of the San Mateo Creek in San Onofre State Beach is a surf spot commonly referred to as Trestles, a world famous destination for surfers. A professional surfing contest is held there every year and surfers from all over the world travel here to surf this wave. The California Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA), an agency created by the state legislature to run the Orange County toll roads, proposed a new toll road with a planned route that would have taken it through parts of the San Mateo creek watershed and San Onofre State Beach. Environmental advocacy groups
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One such location is Cardiff Reef in northern San Diego County. The wave is shaped by a composite reef of rocks covered in eel grass and surf grass. This reef and the kelp forest outside of the reef are sensitive biodiverse marine environments facing threats from rising ocean temperatures, overfishing, and other damaging human activities. Garth Murphy, a former member of the California Department of Fish and Game’s Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Regional Stakeholder Group and surfer, explains “Over-exploitation and depletion or collapse of important food web components causes imbalances that degrade marine ecosystems…diminishing water quality and habitat suitability for marine life and surfers.” In addition rising sea levels could negatively impact the surf and habitat by causing the reef to be in deeper water. The wave is better for surfing when the tide is lower and at very low tides parts of the reef can be …show more content…
Heal The Bay is an environmental nonprofit that releases an annual beach scorecard detailing water pollution levels at beaches across the state. The elevated bacteria levels found at Cowell can be harmful to anyone who enters the water for recreation (Santa Cruz Surfrider 2018). Efforts to identify and eliminate sources of this pollution have made some progress. The City created a task force in 2015 to try and deal with the issue. Nets have been installed under the Wharf to prevent bird droppings from contaminating the water (York 2017). The local wastewater treatment plant has started taking in dry weather flows from the Neary Lagoon, a source of potentially polluted water that would otherwise flow into the ocean at Cowell Beach (Neary Lagoon 2018). This has reduced the pollution levels in recent years but pollution can be a difficult problem due to the myriad of potential sources. Environmental Laws have helped in this effort but some nonpoint sources of pollution that fall outside the jurisdiction of any one law can be very difficult to
There are many different types of coasts that exist throughout the United States. The south shore of Long Island has a unique types of coast known as a barrier beach. Barrier beaches are long narrow land forms that are composed of sand and other lose sediments. These sediments are brought together by the actions of waves, currents and storm surges. Barrier beaches are subject to constant changes by the same forces. Sand is constantly eroded in one area an deposited in another. Barrier coasts are important for a number of reasons; they protect the mainland of Long Island from the open ocean and flooding during storms, for recreational use and the unique ecosystems which exist on barrier beaches.
cut back on the problems in the Bay. Scientists have given an unthinkable amount of attention to the Bay of the past several years and researchers from countless numbers of agencies and institutions have dove deep into the issues and studying every nook and cranny to create answers to every politicians’ questions. The biggest concern with the Bay, and the most concentrated ...
I live in the city of Huntington Beach, a city where the waves and beaches are famous and known all around the world for it 's surfing and one of the best places to be able to take your four legged babes to run and romp around in the sand and waves. A place that can seem like a piece of heaven to those that like to surf. But did you know that Huntington Beach has a dark side to it, one that many of it 's citizens do not like to talk about or don 't know about.
For many years now scientists and researchers have been paying their attention to the bay. Millions of dollars and hundreds of hours have been spent to return the bay to its glory. However, with all that has been done the bay is still in danger and the work is no where near complete. In 2005 the bay's health was evaluated at a “D”. (Chesapeake Bay Restoration)
Joe, Brancatelli. " What Is Polluting Our Beaches?" Popular Science 1 Mar. 2003. Database. 23 Oct. 2005.
Earth, an endless source of wonder and beauty, produced the Great Barrier Reef. Hustling and bustling, the Reef thrives like a busy city, teeming with life. Sheltering thousands, corals, maintain the well-being of the Reef; however, the world threatens its nature and delicacy. Populations growing and technological advances increasing, the world becomes more and more disconnected with the natural world, posing an alarming risk for the planet we live on. Although many organizations try to keep the oceans clean, because of human interference and unnatural occurrences, the Great Barrier Reef needs scientific help to adapt corals to new conditions for means of survival, putting pressure on the Australian government to save their ocean environment.
Excessive nutrients from agriculture, development, and industry are harming the Chesapeake Bay. These excessive nutrients harm the habitat for many of the bays species. On top of the habitat being depleated, overfishing and diseases are also hurting the bays species. Nutrient loads can be reduced with the help of lawmakers to put a cap on the emissions allowed in the environment. If this is done the dead zone will start to recede, but the time and money need to be spent in order to save the bay.
One contaminant in particular has been an issue and it has proven hard to get rid of. Plastic waste litters the estuary and the bay area. The source of the plastic waste is the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO). The discharge or overflow of plastic waste gets released directly into the bay during heavy rainfall (Navarro,2011).
. Policy Problem Rising sea levels are becoming a prominent issue along with global warming and climate change for many regions near coastal areas, with Miami, Florida being one of the most detrimental areas. With a current population of 413,892 living just 6 feet above sea level, Miami is positioned as one of the first areas to experience some of the disastrous effects of climate change (Johnson). Within the next 100 years, rising sea levels have the ability to damage South Florida’s fragile barrier islands, the population that lives near coastal areas, and its appealing subtropical beaches (Madigan A12). Coastal areas, which provide the largest area for disaster, however, are not the only areas that will experience the effects of climate change.
We need coral reefs, and not just to make the ocean look pretty and colourful, they are more than just that…
Semaphore Beach is affected by many factors such as natural processes and human impacts including marine litter and the discharge of stormwater. Therefore, several plans have been employed to ensure that the coast is supported through the method of counteracting erosion. However in the future, many management strategies have been put into consideration as well as the environmental, economic and social impacts as well as the predicted consequences. These impacts include traffic related incidents, noises and air pollution and the disruption of wildlife and the erosion of dunes. A method that should be considered for future management of the beach is the use of a concave sea wall, although efficient, this structure would be quite costly. Without the use of coastal management, Semaphore Beach would be unsupported, therefore negatively being affected by a variety of
Water Pollution is a current issue that has serious consequences; it progresses everyday in our lakes, oceans, rivers and other bodies of water.
do not be harmed by water pollution but the cause much it. Many companies pour
The oceans need to be protected because it is where life began and if not taken care of, life as we know it will end. When dangerous substances go into the ocean, ecosystems are suffer and become endangered along with lives of people and of marine life. Surfrider Foundation recognizes the importance of protecting and preserving the quality and biodiversity of the world's coasts because they are truly irreplaceable. There is also historical evidence of ocean pollution being present in the past, but the problem still lingers today. Heal the Bay discovered that,“Did you know there is a DDT and PCB hot spot off the coast of Palos Verdes? This superfund site (which indicates it's one of the most polluted places in the United States), is left over from a 1930's era chemical plant. Because DDT takes so long to break down in the marine environment, it persists to this day, contaminating certain species of fish. There are also highly polluted sediments in the Long Beach area, a sign of the heavy shipping in the port. Heal the Bay works on developing effective capping and removal plans to keep those toxins from spreading” (Heal the Bay). DDT is still highly concentrated in the South Bay area and still contaminating different species of fish. Even after more than 80 years DDT, a toxic insecticide, is still very concentrated and during upwellings, DDT particles come back up and continue to harm marine life. If humans are careless about what is thrown on the floor or sprayed on lawns, it can lead to disastrous affects when it comes to the condition of the ocean's ecosystems, and can endanger life itself leading to a problem that only we can mend.
...s to take action on contaminated beaches nearby are to speak out, attend public meetings, and/or volunteer. To reduce the contaminants in the ocean, everyone can plant trees, dispose chemicals and pet waste in the correct designated areas, prevent waste from going into seward and storm drains, prevent the clogs in storm drains, organize neighborhood cleanups, recycle paper, plastic, and glass, and maintain cars from oil leaks. To give a helping hand, there are many volunteer programs for people to clean up waste on the shore lines. They have a website where people are able to help out along the coastlines of California near them; www.cacoastkeeper.org/take-action/volunteer. We have created this problem, we should be able to resolve it. Either we change what we’re doing on land, or face the future extinction of many animals and people due to the cause of one species.