Not only does this recurring reconstruction place billions of dollars of property at risk, but it often means the construction of hugely expensive flood protection and storm-control projects that can harm coastal ecosystems.
Hardened shorelines take away crucial habitat for turtles and waterfowl. Jetties interfere with the growth of sea grasses that crabs and small worms need to hide from predators. Efforts to create nature reserves and national seashores on U. But as the current construction boom on Bolivar Island shows, these conservation initiatives often run up against powerful business and political interests. Historically, residents of barrier islands have not always looked to the government for millions of dollars in salvation efforts when the sea encroached.
Often, they simply left. When Hog Island, on the Virginia Coast, eroded to the point where it was uninhabitable in the s, residents barged their houses to the nearby towns of Willis Wharf and Oyster.
Similar tales have repeated themselves in Texas and Louisiana, where barrier islands were popular refuges for pirates but often not considered fit for long-term structures. Federal and state governments spent big on bridges, dunes, beach replenishment, and public piers to encourage settlement.
Government-backed flood insurance encouraged that process, as did the federal government assuming the role of rebuilder-in-chief, said Rob Young, a geologist who directs the program for the study of developed shorelines at Western Carolina University.
The rest of us are assuming all of the risks. The people came. More than 7, people now inhabit Ocean City, Maryland year-round; hundreds of thousands more visit every summer. In Alabama, 1, people live year-round on Dauphin Island, a spit of sand in the Gulf of Mexico that has been battered by more than 10 hurricanes and major storms in the past 35 years, but has been repeatedly rebuilt.
These skinny, sandy shoals are lands on the move, shifting, gaining, and losing sand in rhythm with the ocean currents. Their highest grounds are sandy dunes.
The rest is wetlands and beachfront, with an ocean or gulf on one side and a bay on the other. They protect the mainland from floods and are prime habitat for migrating birds.
Investigating Disease. Laser Eye Surgery. Mag Lev Trains. Mars Rocks! New Research on Cells. The Origins of Birds. Recycling Plastics. Roller Coaster Physics. Teacher Page. Select WebQuest. Introduction If you look at a map of the eastern shoreline of the United States, you can see that the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts are lined by a series of thin, elongated islands. Top Task Your job in this WebQuest is to develop an educated opinion as to whether or not people should build permanent structures on barrier islands.
Top Resources Look at the web sites given here to find the information that will enable you to form your opinion about permanent structures built on barrier islands. What are barrier islands and how do they form?
How do barrier islands change over time? How do various states handle development of barrier islands? Altamaha River Barrier Islands. At this site you can find out how the state of Georgia handles development of Sapelo Island.
Explore the site further to find out about beach, dune, estuarine, and marsh ecosystems. Ecosystem Fact Sheets: Barrier Islands. Go to this site to find out more about the development of the barrier islands of Florida. Go to this site to find out about the formation of the Gulf Islands National Seashore. At this site you can find out how Florida protects two of its barrier islands.
At this site you can find out how communities on barrier islands respond to a rise in sea level. What kinds of development occur on barrier islands? Barrier islands, erosion, and mitigation efforts. Visit this site to find out what is happening to the barrier islands of New York.
Understanding Recreational Use on Barrier Islands. Go to this site to learn about the relationship between recreational use and physical features of Masonboro Island, a barrier island that is part of the North Carolina National Estuarine Research Reserve. Managing Coastal Resources Case Studies. Visit this site to find out how North Carolina and Louisiana are protecting their barrier islands. Go to this site for background information on the development and conservation of barrier islands in Virginia and Maryland.
At this Coastal Estuarine Geology Program, Department of Natural Resources, State of Maryland site you can find out about the maintenance of beaches on barrier islands.
What happens to permanent structures built on barrier islands? But if you live on a barrier island, you can't guarantee you'll have land under your house in 60 years.
As a result of Hurricane Katrina, a number of barrier islands off the Mississippi coast were completely wiped off the map. Even when storms aren't enough to raze islands completely, barriers often suffer severe damage from storms.
Isles Dernieres off the coast of Louisiana was devastated by Hurricane Andrew in Often, after these storms, people move back and set themselves up for disaster again. George Island on Apalachicola Bay off the Florida coast "has been washed away five or six or eight times and people just keep building back their houses," Alexander said. For many people living on barrier islands, there is no amount of structural support that can ward off the worst.
The chances are pretty good that if you have beachfront property, it's history. Though Ike might not completely destroy Galveston Island, it could inflict major damage. Already Friday afternoon, the island was being pounded by high waves and flooding.
How much depends on how the hurricane develops and what part of the island the eye of the storm passes over. The eastern part of Galveston Island also the more densely inhabited has a strong foot sea wall in place to deflect some of the incoming waves, so it should be more protected than the western half, depending on the extent to which the storm surge overtops the wall.
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