A coastal development hazard is something that affects the natural environment by human activities and products. As coasts become more developed, the vulnerability component of the equation increases as there is more value at risk to the hazard. The likelihood component of the equation also increases in terms of there being more value on the coast so a higher chance of hazardous situation occurring. Fundamentally humans create hazards with their presence. In a coastal example, erosion is a process that happens naturally on the Canterbury Bight as a part of the coastal geomorphology of the area and strong long shore currents. This process becomes a hazard when humans interact with that coastal environment by developing it and creating value in that area.
A natural hazard is defined as the release of energy or materials that threaten humans or what they value. In a coastal context these hazards vary temporally and spatially from a rare, sudden, massive release of energy and materials such as a major storm event or tsunami, to the continual chronic release of energy and materials such long-term coastal erosion or sea-level rise. It is this type coastal hazard, specifically around erosion and attributes surrounding erosion that this article will focus on.
Globally, the number of people living on the coast is increasing. It has been stated that there has been over a 35% increase in the population of people living on the coasts since 1995. The average density of people in coastal regions is 3 times higher than the global average density. Historically, city development, especially large cities, was based on coasts due to the economic benefits of the ports. In 1950, there were only 2 megacities (cities with greater than 8 million people) in the coastal zone, London and New York City. By the mid-nineties, there were 13. Although coastal areas have globally shown population growth and increases in density, very few in-depth quantitative global studies of population have been carried out, especially in terms of distribution across specific environs, like coasts.
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Coastal sediment supply is the transport of sediment to the beach environment by both fluvial and aeolian transport. While aeolian transport plays a role in the overall sedimentary budget for the coastal environment, it is paled in comparison to the fluvial supply which makes up 95% of sediment entering the ocean. When sediment reaches the coast it is then entrained by longshore drift and littoral cells until it is accreted upon the beach or dunes. While it is acknowledged that storm systems are the driver behind coastal erosion.
Integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), integrated coastal management (ICM), or integrated coastal planning is a coastal management process for the management of the coast using an integrated approach, regarding all aspects of the coastal zone, including geographical and political boundaries, in an attempt to achieve sustainability. This concept was born in 1992 during the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro. The specifics regarding ICZM is set out in the proceedings of the summit within Agenda 21, Chapter 17.
Cuspate forelands, also known as cuspate barriers or nesses in Britain, are geographical features found on coastlines and lakeshores that are created primarily by longshore drift. Formed by accretion and progradation of sand and shingle, they extend outwards from the shoreline in a triangular shape. Some cuspate forelands may be stabilised by vegetation, while others may migrate down the shoreline.
During Arctic springtime, halogen radicals oxidize atmospheric elemental mercury (Hg0), which deposits to the cryosphere. This is followed by a summertime atmospheric Hg0 peak that is thought to resultmostly fromterrestrial Hg inputs to the ArcticOcean, fo ...
2022
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Several studies have investigated new particle formation (NPF) events from various sites ranging from pristine locations, including forest sites, to urban areas. However, there is still a dearth of studies investigating NPF processes and subsequent aerosol ...
COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH2022
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Erosion significantly affects the dynamics of gravity-driven mass flows. In snow avalanches, the snow cover can be substantially eroded but only partially entrained, however, there are very limited investigations to substantiate this difference. Here, we s ...