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Fighting Mother Nature

Motokid

Motokid

New Member
The tiny little state I live in has a small amount of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. So it has the typical, summer beach attraction that draws in-state and out-of-state visitors (read money) to the area. Every few years the Army Corp of Engineers, funded by tax-payer dollars, has to come in and replenish the sand on the beaches due to erosion from the occasional Nor’easter and other heavy storms that rattle the east coast.
They basically dredge up sand from off-shore, and pump it up onto the ever shrinking beach. Then, over time, the wind and the waves take the sand back out into the ocean, and the process must start over again.

So basically the good people of Delaware, and the people who visit our beaches, pay lot’s-o-money to have sand pumped up to widen the beaches, only to have Mother Nature re-claim what is rightfully hers every few years.

How long can man battle Mother Nature? How long should man battle Mother Nature? Is it a simple matter of economics? If, in the end, the state makes more money than it spends on Beach Replenishment, is that all that really matters? Is it simple demand for tourist dollars that drives the machine?

The tourist/vacation industry is huge. It provides many people with income, jobs, and security. Many people, and many business’s, plus local and state governments reap many rewards. But at what price?

Is there a point where man decides to stop f’n with Mother Nature, and makes the conscious decision to re-think the overall strategy for the future?
 
Motokid said:
Is there a point where man decides to stop f’n with Mother Nature, and makes the conscious decision to re-think the overall strategy for the future?
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Wow. That's a weighty question. Well, I believe the answer has to do with the mentality of the people. In the Native American culture people understood their connection to the earth. Unfortunately, respecting the planet the planet is not part of modern American culture. It seems like we have to experience the negative effects of our own actions, before we stop doing it.

In other words, I think that point exists but it's not here yet.
 
mother nature will always win. even when we have pushed the environment to the point where it is unlivable for us, we will die off and then life will resume.
 
I had a good laugh, leave it to government to throw money into a deep pit(i.e.-literally, the ocean floor!.)
 
We didn't create this hunk of dirt, and I don't think we are powerful enough to destroy it. As Jenn says, we may make it uninhabitable for us, but something will survive.

I think the beach thing will go on for as long as there are slivers of sand near the ocean where people can sit in the sun and watch swimmers tease the sharks. It's kind of like a NASCAR race... The sharks don't usually win, but when they do, you don't want to miss it!

So, Moto, I am assuming you are near Rehoboth?
 
hey now, i am a canadian. well come to think of it, we will survive. we can totally outlast you wimps in cali.
 
jenngorham said:
you can't handle the beer!! *jenn doing her best jack nicholson*
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Love me some Labatts! the beer with a bear! too good!

(you need to sound more constipated when you do "jack"!)
 
Dang, I thought this thread was going to be about plastic surgery and liposuction.

But, whatever. There are more efficient ways to deal with beach erosion, such as using rock or concrete jetties to change the tidal flow, though these usually wind up causing erosion in a different place along the shore. It's basically an engineering question, not a question of whether to throw money away or not.

We build landfill along coastlines and put buildings up on it. We build bridges over water and tunnel through mountains. We build dams for hydroelectic power and flood deserts for agriculture and settlement. We divert water away from one community to another and build whole cities under sea level (hello, New Orleans). To me, these are all part of the same philosophy: that man uses engineering to adapt the landscape to his own needs. I think that's, over time, usually proven to provide both a benefit and a cost to society, and you just have to weigh each case to decide whether to do it.

Do you like to have a sandy beach Moto? I do. I lived along the Atlantic in NY for my whole childhood and watched these dredging and shoreline engineering projects happen every couple of years, and finally they came up with a semi-permanent solution using rock jetties. I think they're great. Also, they are a breeding ground for mussels and sand crabs and seaweed and other life, whereas dredging disrupts the ecosystem every few years.
 
novella said:
Do you like to have a sandy beach Moto? I do. I lived along the Atlantic in NY for my whole childhood and watched these dredging and shoreline engineering projects happen every couple of years, and finally they came up with a semi-permanent solution using rock jetties. I think they're great. Also, they are a breeding ground for mussels and sand crabs and seaweed and other life, whereas dredging disrupts the ecosystem every few years.
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They have the jetties down in Charleston, SC, too. Great place to catch Sheepshead on fiddler crabs! I never realized they were an attempt to redirect erosion!

With all the little barrier islands around Charleston, I don't think the erosion is as big of a problem as it is in y'all's (all y'alls?) area, except on the little barrier islands! :eek: They have put a moritorium on coastal building on two of the popular beach islands there, and are planting a lot of sawgrass and things along the beaches to create a "two dune" system (I think that's what they call it).

Our ability to modify our environment is what has allowed us to adapt, evolve, and dominate. It may, in the end, be what causes our demise! Then the Canadians will rule the earth!
 
novella said:
There are more efficient ways to deal with beach erosion, such as using rock or concrete jetties to change the tidal flow, though these usually wind up causing erosion in a different place along the shore. It's basically an engineering question, not a question of whether to throw money away or not.

...

To me, these are all part of the same philosophy: that man uses engineering to adapt the landscape to his own needs. I think that's, over time, usually proven to provide both a benefit and a cost to society, and you just have to weigh each case to decide whether to do it.
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Bingo - you put in a sea wall and you change the oceanography of a region. This is particularly harmful when people decide to put amateur-built seawalls or employ coastal hardening strategies on their coastal property. What inevitably happens is that they transfer the problem to a neighbour.

Beach nourishment happens all over the world. Here in Canada they certainly do it in the Atlantic provinces every summer (though who wants to swim in those frigid waters... brrr!). It's a less destructive process than sea walls, often, although sometimes sand does build up in other locations. I think it's a more sensible strategy sometimes, and although the cost is high to bring in the sand, this is likely offset by the jobs it creates, and the reduction in further erosion that may otherwise occur (case specific).

Also bear in mind that with increased sea level rise, there will be an increase in storm surges and thus more erosion. So they're going to continue to have issues with this for an indeterminate amount of time.
 
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