The beautiful barrier islands of South Carolina are home to some of the most breath-taking landscapes and thriving ecosystems in the world, but they are being washed away with every passing moment. Our islands are fighting a losing battle against beach erosion, and it’s time that we as South Carolinians step up to the plate against this powerful menace. The pace that our islands are washing away at has to be slowed to ensure the survival of South Carolina’s diverse coastal wildlife and sustain our tourist economy. Our barrier islands are home to numerous species of birds and aquatic wildlife that depend on the islands for their survival. Sea turtles use the beaches of these islands, such as Hunting Island, to lay their eggs. Currently, …show more content…
People from all backgrounds are drawn to South Carolina’s sandy shores, but with rising water levels the shores many flock to see are being washed away. The gross domestic product of coastal tourism produced close to $3.5 billion dollars in 2008 and supported 80,984 jobs, not including historical tourism. South Carolina’s beaches and islands are feature of our landscape that we cannot afford to lose. Hunting Island alone is losing the use of many of its roads and cabins as a result of beach erosion, as the water rises to unsafe heights. Dredging sand from the Charleston port is a proposed plan that would help our economy, while it could also help replenish island sand. By borrowing sand from the harbor, the channel is deepened and larger ships can enter. The sand taken from the bottom can then be transported to various islands, replacing the sand that is washed away. Islands such as Hilton Head have been replenishing their beaches for years, pumping sand from offshore shoals. Although the battle against island erosion is a futile effort, steps can be taken to prolong the survival of our islands. Our marshes, beaches, and picturesque islands hold a special place in my heart, as I see myself living on the coast for years to come. We cannot afford to let one of the most beautiful features of our state slip away. Our economy depends on the survival of our islands, and more importantly, our wildlife depends on us to secure their
The efforts taking place through different conservation organizations and the State of Florida are making a mixed impact on the survival of Manatees and Sea Turtles. The decline in manatee population has decreased, but due to low reproduction rates, more needs to be done to avoid extinction. The sea turtle outlook is more species specific. Some species of turtle are seeing stabilization in population, while others are not. The State of Florida has a large array of custom license tags that support the conservation efforts taking place within the State. The proceeds go to benefit the local marine life in Florida. With financial resources, state and local cooperation, and through constant research and observation, we are able to learn more about both of these gentle animals. With human awareness of those living in Florida, these two animals will survive
An Environmental History of Long Island Sound. " Journal of the American Planning Association 69 (2003): 321. BigChalk. 9 Nov. 2005. The Sound Book. 8 Nov. 2005 .
Maintaining ecological diversity is necessary for the survival of a biological community. In the United States, American citizens are on the verge of irrevocably damaging one of the country's most unique and diverse treasures - the Florida Everglades. This national park is now the only remaining patch of a river that used to span 120 miles from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Bay. Dikes and levees created by the Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1940's drained this river to reduce flooding and increase useable water for the development of the region. This major diversion of water lead to a trickle down effect causing the continual decline of the environmental state of the Everglades. Since then, debates over the Everglades' future have silently raged on for years about how, why, and when the restoration will begin. This ongoing, but virtually unproductive effort has cost taxpayers a great deal without any apparent benefits. Recently, this debate has been amplified by the voices of the sugar industry in Florida, which was attacked for its major contribution to pollution of the Everglades. Now debates rage on with a new effort called the Restudy. Backed by the Army Corps of Engineers, this effort would change the flow of the Everglades, potentially restoring it into the viable community of life that it used to be. The question now is, will this latest attempt to restore the Everglades ever be realized (thus ending the cyclic Everglades debate) or will it simply add up to one more notch on the bedpost of inadequate and failed attempts to save this national treasure. The world is watching to see how the United States will handle this unprecedented cleanup.
The effects of erosion and loss of marsh land in the Southern United States has devastating consequences to all of these benefits, both local and national. The loss of land can mostly be attributed to subsidence, erosion, and severe weather events. The USGS reports that a total of 118 square miles of land has been transformed to new water areas in a 9,742 square mile area from the Chandeleur Islands to the Atchafalaya River. This land loss is from fall of 2004 to the fall of 2005, after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (USGS, February 2006).
...t the guaranteed developmental boom following the completion of the project will also ensure an even greater and more damaging human impact as there will be more beachfront lighting, boats, and beach pollution. Unconcerned with the negative ramifications of the beach nourishment project, islanders on Topsail prove their allegiance to development, tourism, artificial beaches, the promise for a more booming economy and the selfish desire for hurricane protection even though they riskily built homes on one of the most hazardous and unprotected barrier islands in the United States. Topsail’s willingness to betray the environmental protection organizations it’s worked tirelessly to support makes me question whether the promotion of the Topsail Turtle Project and the Turtle Hospital was a noble cause to save endangered animals or a farce to attract the media and tourism.
Willard, Debra A., Christopher E. Bernhardt, Charles W. Holmes, Bryan Landacre, and Marci Marot. "Response Of Everglades Tree Islands To Environmental Change." Ecological Monographs 76.4 (2006): 565-83. JSTOR. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.
The Civil War had a multi-faceted effect on Charleston, South Carolina. As a result of the American Civil War, Charleston’s economy, agriculture, slavery, architecture, and lifestyle forever changed. Charleston, the site of great devastation during and after the American Civil War, took decades to recover. However, Charleston became the most beautiful city in South Carolina.
The Everglades, commonly referred to as the "River of Grass," is the largest remaining sub-tropical wilderness in the lower 48 states. It contains both fresh and saltwater areas, open Everglades prairies, pine rocklands, tropical hardwood forests, offshore coral reefs, and mangrove forests. The broad spectrum of wildlife living in the Everglades includes aquatic birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians, of which fifty-six species are endangered or threatened. Twenty-two of these species reside in two National Parks, four National Wildlife Refuges, and one National Marine Sanctuary which draw 1.6 million visitors every year.... Previously, it was thought, islands of land could be preserved forever by simply drawing national park boundaries. Today, it is clear that this is untrue. National parks are not islands. They are greatly impacted by what happens outside their boundaries. The Everglades is "a Park in Danger." Water management, water quality, non-native species, loss of species, and explosive regional population growth all present challenges for the Everglades; however, there are attempts being made to save the Everglades against these apparent dangers.
"U.S. Tropical Islands Impacts & Adaptation." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013. .
Over the past 100 years the Louisiana coastline has suffered greatly from biotic, abiotic, and anthropogenic factors. The abiotic factors include things such as hurricanes or overnutrition that influence the surrounding biota. The biotic factors that contribute to coastal erosion are things like the immigration invasive species and the emigration or extinction of local flora and fauna that help preserve the wetlands. Additionally, there are anthropogenic factors such as pollution that can have strong negative influences on the abiotic and biotic factors of the wetlands. Each one of these factors cause ecological disturbances to the wetlands at a frequency and intensity that is unmanageable for the local flora and fauna. There are currently certain measures that are being taken into consideration to slow or stop the erosion of the Louisiana coastline.
Sandy beaches are highly dynamic environments that have many valuable environmental impacts including: providing protection to inland areas, dissipation of wave energy, are important tourist destinations, and serve as a home to a variety of marine and coastal species such as sea turtles and coral reefs (Absalonsen and Dean, 2010). Both of Florida’s coasts have many sandy beaches, and climate change has impacted many species of fauna such as sea turtles and coral reefs, as well as the shoreline position of Florida’s coastline. In order to understand the impacts of climate change on Florida’s coastline, it is important to describe Florida’s geologic and climate settings.
Globally coastal wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate, the problem is most of society does not realize the value of these precious wetlands. Coastal wetlands provide an important role in the coastal ecosystem. “Coastal wetlands provide critical services such as absorbing energy from coastal storms, preserving shorelines, protecting human populations and infrastructure, supporting commercial seafood harvests, absorbing pollutants and serving as critical habitat for migratory bird populations”(Anonymous, 2011). Coastal wetlands are an economical asset as well as an environmental one.
. Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the 208-foot tall landmark was just hauled more than a quarter-mile back from its former perch, where it was threatened by the encroaching sea. Coastal erosion chewed away about 1,300 feet of beach, bringing the waves to within 150 feet of the 4,800-ton sentinel. When the light was erected in 1870, it stood about 1,500 feet back from the waves. The lighthouse, on the Outer Banks, North Carolina's long barrier beach, was built to warn ships from waters called "the graveyard of the Atlantic." Ironically, the move should serve as a warning about the growing problem of coastal erosion. Erosion is not just plaguing the Outer Banks. Coastal residents up and down the United States are worrying about undermined cliffs, disappearing beaches, and the occasional dwelling diving into the briny. Beaches are constantly moving, building up here and eroding there, in response to waves, winds, storms and relative sea level rise. Yet when commoners like you and me, and celebs like Steven Spielberg, build along the beach in places like Southampton, N. Y., we don't always consider erosion. After all, real-estate transactions are seldom closed during hurricanes or northeasters, which cause the most dramatic damage to beaches. Yet Southampton, like all the barrier beaches that protect land from the sea, is vulnerable to obliteration by the very factor that makes it so glamorous: the sea. And the problem is increasing because the sea is rising after centuries of relatively slow rise, and scientists anticipate that the rate of rise will continue to increase in the next century. Land, in many places, is also slowly sinking. The result is a loss of sand that places the occasional beachside home inconveniently near -- or in -- the water. Still, erosion cuts in two directions. Without the process of erosion, we would not have the beaches, dunes, barrier beaches, and the highly productive bays and estuaries that owe their very existence to the presence of barrier beaches. Erosion of glacial landforms provides most of the beach sand in Massachusetts. A popular destination The beach-erosion problem has many causes. Among them are: · The ubiquitous desire to live near the sea. · A historically rapid ri...
The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System is a place filled with wonderful plant, bird, and marine life. Its crystal clear waters and sugar sand beaches are something everyone should have the experience of seeing in their lifetime. Thanks to a highly dedicated group of government officials, scientists and volunteers, laws have been passed over the years to help protect this wonder of nature. Unfortunately, do to its vastness in size, not every area can be monitored and even with laws in place, there are some who would still do harm to this amazing area for their own profit. I urge everyone to make contact through any of the websites listed under references to find out what you can do to help play a part in the protection of the reserve. (www.newworldencyclopedia.org)
Today many people do not see the need to preserve corals reefs. Hence because of the lack of appreciation for the reefs, they are slowly disappearing. Many citizens do not realize the importance of these reefs, the species they hold, and the food webs that connect the ecosystems. Our American government has stated many times that they are doing all they can to preserve and to replenish our coral reefs. However, how accurate is that statement? To answer these questions, we first have to understand what a coral reef is and how it can be saved.