5 Potential Beach closures You Should Know About
Do you love spending your summer days at the beach? Do you like lying on the hot sand and playing in the ocean? If you do, then you may have an appreciation for beach houses and other outdoor structures that are popular in many parts of the world. In particular, beach houses are wonderful for vacationers and people who live in beach towns. In most cases, a beach house is considered a recreational vehicle (RV).
Beach Materials. Beach is usually a large, sandy, gravel-packed expanse of salt and water. Beach materials for beaches include pebbles, stones, sand, and shells that are accumulated over centuries of ocean life and weathering. Most beach materials are from weathering and erosion over time.
Beach pollution. Beach pollution is caused by two primary processes. These processes are natural and man-made. Natural causes of beach pollution include storms, tides, hurricanes, tidal waves, algae, chemicals used in the water, and human activities such as dumping of trash into the ocean. On the other hand, human activities that pollute beaches include fishing, tourism, and diving. These activities disturb the natural processes that drive beach pollution.
Sand Control. Beach materials washed or blown onto beaches act as a source of sand for erosion. As more beach debris accumulates, more beach grass is needed to conserve the sand.
Beach Sealing. Some beaches are protected from wind and rising tides by using coarse sand to build up the beach. Others use mats and nets to protect the softer sands from erosion by waves and snow. Sealing reduces the amount of beach waste because it prevents excessive amounts of beach material from washing away, which leads to the creation of more beaches and erosion.
Coastal Erosion. Coastal erosion occurs when a section of land is completely washed away by sea water. In the United States, most areas of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean have experienced at least one instance of coastal erosion over the last century. Experts believe that erosion can result from different forces, including natural phenomena (like hurricane force winds, tides, or cold water currents), human activities (like razing of beach homes and structures, or changing of bedding plants on the beaches) and more recently, the building of high-rise hotels. Since coastal erosion can increase the rate of sea level rise, preventing some areas from being permanently underwater, coastal erosion is a serious threat to global environmental stability.
Sea Level Rise. Rising sea level means that coastal areas will continue to lose their foothold as the seas recede. This can have devastating effects on beaches, especially those located near the coast. Many beaches located in low-lying areas could suffer a great loss of land. Although it seems that the area is gradually receding, experts believe that sea levels are rising too fast to allow the receding to take place for many years.
Beach Pollution. Unfortunately, along with the threat posed by ocean acidification and coastal erosion, another problem facing many beaches is excessive beach pollution. Beach pollution refers to the discharge of harmful substances into the sea from the ground and offshore shoreline activities, which can endanger the lives of marine animals and create danger for the local ecosystems.
Seaweed. As the world’s beaches erode into the sea, they encounter with seaweed, which often clogs up channels leading into the beach. Seaweed is a tiny organism that can attach itself to the skin of the beach and sometimes forms rafts as it accumulates in the water. When the waves recede and wash ashore, these rafts are difficult to pull out of the sand, and often end up wedged between rocks and surfacing structures.
Coastal Erosion. As seawalls and other structures strengthen and gather over land, the beach then becomes gradually covered with sand. The sand keeps rising because of the increased water level, and as it does, the rising sand pushes against the inlet and outlet pipes of coastal structures, creating greater beach closing due to erosion. As a result, it is important to watch the development of coastal erosion as it progresses.
Algae Control. As more beaches experience increasing amounts of erosion, algae grows through the soil, coating rocks and other surfaces. Over time, this can create a dangerous algal bloom, which can clog air conditioners, seep into storm drains, and spread to other nearby beaches when water rushes in to fill the spaces created by erosion. Because of this potential algal bloom catastrophe, it is important that all coastal structures, including hotels and other beach establishments, take measures to prevent algae buildup before it gets out of control.