Beach ErosionA Problem for All essays

Beach ErosionA Problem for All essays Living only a few miles from the great Atlantic Ocean, the beach is a place where I have spent many days of my life. I have watched tremendous storms with powerful surf and fierce winds eat away the shoreline. But, to society there is no cost comparable to beachs pleasures. It seems in the 1990s everyone wants that exclusive ocean view, but few realize the potential costs in lives, money, and property. And the ultimate cost of such coastal development, experts say, is the beach itself. (Warren, 1999, p.1) Many lives have been lost to erosion. From houses lost in the surf to giant waves crashing through town. A tragedy like this happened in Galveston, Texas. A hurricane hit this small town in 1990 and killed 6,000 people; a massive sea wall was then constructed to help prevent another tragedy like that from happening again (Nash, 1996, p.18). Erosion causes a higher percentage of damage to society then one might think, because nearly half of the countrys 238 million people live on only 11 percent of the nations landthe land in coastal counties (Nash, 1996, p.18). Erosion is very costly, do to efforts trying to prevent and or fix erosion. On the other hand, the beach also generates money from tourists. Contributing about 170 billion annually to the economy society can afford to fix the problem of erosion. In New Jersey the Department of Environmental Services installed the STABLERTM Disc Erosion Control System. Resembling a flexible chain of large concrete discs it has helped the erosion crisis in New Jersey (Public Works, 1997, p. 39). But, before long in New Jersey the state and all federal taxpayers will soon be shelling out $9 billion to pump sand from offshore areas onto 127 miles of sand-starved beaches (Warren, ...