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Coastal Erosion and Land Loss: Causes and Impacts

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Tomorrow's Coasts: Complex and Impermanent

Part of the book series: Coastal Research Library ((COASTALRL,volume 27))

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Abstract

The margins of the sea are encroaching landward throughout most of the world. This is happening not simply because of sea level rise but also because the solid material- sand, mud, gravel-composing the shore and the subaerial and subaqueous lands immediately adjacent to it is being displaced. In addition to physical erosion by wave, thermal erosion in the Arctic and loss of wetlands through ecological processes are also active. The expected rate of sea level is predicted to exceed critical “tipping points” for wetlands destruction in many regions.

We speak of course of that narrow strip of land over which ocean waves and moon-powered tides are masters-that margin of territory that remains wild despite the proximity of cities….

—W. J. Dakin—Australian Seashores

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA), Washington, DC, USA

    Lynn Donelson Wright

  2. Department of Coastal Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Ocean Springs, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, MS, USA

    Wei Wu

  3. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA

    James Morris

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  1. Lynn Donelson Wright
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  2. Wei Wu
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  3. James Morris
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Correspondence to Lynn Donelson Wright .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA), Washington, DC, USA

    Lynn Donelson Wright

  2. Marine Information Resources Corporation (MIRC), Ellicott City, Maryland, USA

    C. Reid Nichols

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Wright, L.D., Wu, W., Morris, J. (2019). Coastal Erosion and Land Loss: Causes and Impacts. In: Wright, L., Nichols, C. (eds) Tomorrow's Coasts: Complex and Impermanent. Coastal Research Library, vol 27. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75453-6_9

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