The Impending Coastal Crisis

With populations moving closer to coasts and development proceeding at breakneck pace, is disaster in store?

By mid-century, more than half of the U.S. population will live within a day

Increasing coastal erosion has led to a clamor for engineering structures such as sea walls, groins and stone jetties at inlets to preserve shorelines. Seventy years of experience, however, have shown that while such structures may trap sand and build beaches locally, they cut off sand supply to other areas.

When waves arrive at an angle to the shoreline, they create a