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The Cost of Living in Paradise

Karla Gutierrez
English 301
Dr. Bruce
December 10, 2015
[APA format]

The Cost of Living in Paradise

A closer look at the threats of coastal homes





There is no purpose in debating that beach homes are distasteful or
unpopular for that matter. If money were not an issue, anyone would highly
consider buying one of these beautiful houses and live the dream. Along with this
fantasy, however, come several issues that could potentially turn this into a real
nightmare. Structures along the coastline are not only damaging to existing habitats
but are also predisposed to environmental threats. The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) estimates that in 2010 about 39% of the
United States population, excluding Alaska, lived in coastline counties making up
17% of the land, (NOAAs State of the Coast, 2013). Given the size of the nation, this
percentage clearly demonstrates that people live in much denser populations near
the coast than in any other region of the country. For this reason, restrictions to
coastal homes should be set to prevent both environmental and property losses and
homeowners must be made aware of the dangers of living near the shore.

The Effect of Coastal Structures on the Environment


Not surprisingly, building near coasts negatively impacts the environment.
The termed urban sprawl, or rapid construction in undeveloped areas, has
jeopardized multiple ecosystem services provided by seashore environments such

The Cost of Living in Paradise

as removing pollutants, protecting against erosion, and lessening the damage of


floods (NOAAs State of the Coast, 2011). One of the most important impacts is the
significant increase in runoff due to the faster flow of rainwater on developed land
(Beach, 2002). According to a report by the Pew Oceans Commission, these runoffs
cause stream flow patterns to change increasing the instability of the substrate
underwater and result in the degradation of aquatic habitat. The document further
explains that along with runoff, pollutants are being introduced in high quantities.
For instance, excess nitrogen in an ecosystem can lead to the overpopulation of
algae, known as algal blooms. With the continued growth of algae, other plants
decompose and serve as food for bacteria. With such a high food concentration,
bacteria reproduce and deplete the oxygen source for aquatic life (Beach, 2002). The
Pew Oceans Commission reports that extensive algal growth decreases clarity and
thus limits light from reaching habitats where it is a crucial resource (i.e. coral reefs
and seagrass beds).

Homeowners are not particularly the ones to blame for the damaging of

coastal environments. Studies have shown that people have difficulty believing
cause and effect relationships, similar to these, if they are not directly seen
(Thompson, 2007). Robert Thompson, a professor of Marine Affairs at the
University of Rhode Island, states that from the existing cultural models used to
manage shoreline properties, the ecological model is the least understood. In other
words, if homeowners do not see the direct effect that their houses have on coastal
environments, they are likely to ignore the significance of maintaining the
surrounding habitat. Putting this into perspective, not unlike people raking fallen

The Cost of Living in Paradise

leaves in their front yards, beach homeowners also try to maintain their property
free of drifting seaweed. The removal of seaweed and other organic elements can
reduce beach diversity by eliminating potential food sources and seabird nesting
materials (Thompson, 2007).

Threats to Coastal Zones

In addition to threatening natural habitats, the environment itself can be

quite devastating in coastal zones. Some people may not realize that global warming
could be a potential risk factor for coastal cities. Changes in temperature are not the
only side effect according to this hypothesis. Scientists have collected substantial
data suggesting that sea levels have risen significantly in the past century (Church
and White, 2006). Further research has demonstrated that sea levels have
fluctuated through millennia (Kemp et al, 2011). This variation can be misleading
since changes in our oceans appear to be haphazard. However, what is most
alarming are the reported increasing rates of sea level rise since the mid 20th
century. The slope of average global sea level change has increased from 0.71 to
1.84 mm per year (Church and White, 2006). A Science magazine article declares
that predicted effects include submergence of shorelines and more intense flood
events (Nicholls and Cazenave, 2010).

Unfortunately, threats appear most obvious during natural disasters, such as

the 2005 Hurricane Katrina in the Golf coast and 2012 Hurricane Sandy in the
Atlantic coast, two of the most expensive hurricanes in the history of the United
States$108 and $50 billion dollars respectively (Leins, 2014). Not only are

The Cost of Living in Paradise

structures damaged but lives are also destroyed, and this, in the end, is what
matters the most. The reason why people continue to be in harms way is because
development along the waters edge has not stopped and reconstruction in high-risk
zones ultimately leads to similar ends (Walsh, 2012). Is it worth rebuilding
structures along the shoreline in zones prone to weather catastrophes? According to
a report on The Data Center, about 80% of New Orleans was flooded due to
Hurricane Katrina (Plyer, 2015). Most of this damage affected local neighborhoods
displacing over one million residents from their homes; this amounted to over one
hundred thousand households. The initial reconstruction plans involved the
solidification of the failed levee system- man made structures, such as embankments,
with the purpose to prevent overflow (Kates et al, 2006). Even with this
construction, according to Kates et al, the city is expected to experience flooding
again in the face of future hurricanes that may intensify with the effect of global
warming.

Alleviating Coastal Damages

In order to counteract flood

hazards specifically, high-risk flood


zones are required to purchase flood
insurance to alleviate damages. The
National Flood Insurance Program
(NFIP) strives to protect
Figure 1. Map depicting counties with the most
National Flood Insurance Program claims from
1978 to 2013 (Union of Conserved Scientists,
2013).

homeowners and works for the

The Cost of Living in Paradise

enforcement of flood management regulations (Federal Emergency Management


Agency, 2015). In spite of this financial support, the Union of Concerned Scientists
(2013) claims that property losses continue to be an issue to this day. Flood damage
occurs far more often in coastal regions; and therefore most of the NFIP claims
originate from these high-risk zones (figure 1). The union indicates that the low
subsidized rates do not account for the high cost of the program itself. In other
words, the cost to address the numerous reported losses exceeds the financial
support available. Due to the nature of flood insurance funding, most of the
resultant bill is covered by taxpayer money and this cycle can lead to wasteful
expenses with the reconstruction of such cities (Walsh, 2012).

Of course Americans do not build in

these areas without precautions. For


instance, New York has raised sewage
pumps and Stamford, Connecticut has built
defensive seawalls (Gilis, 2011 and Walsh,
2012). A Journal of Coastal Conservation
study concludes that living shorelines

Figure 2. Construction of a living shoreline by


volunteers in North Carolina (Rich, 2015).

counterbalance the effects of high water levels (Manis et al, 2015). These structures
are composed of hard materials, organisms, and plants that mimic natural
obstruction of wave forces. The experimental results suggest that shorelines
consisting of oysters and macroalgae have a positive impact on the surrounding
ecosystem serving as potential habitat. This method can be quite inexpensive in
comparison to heavy infrastructures. Nevertheless, living shorelines are most useful

The Cost of Living in Paradise

against boat disturbances and certainly do


not provide full protection from hurricanes
or storms.

Figure 3. Photograph of living shoreline


(Fig. 2) after one year (Rich, 2015).


Calling for an absolute stop of construction near coasts would certainly be
heavily debated. Coastal-based business owners, especially, would strongly argue
against this. Moreover, tourism would also be heavily affected from such an action if
shops and resorts were eliminated from these popular areas. Since many people
depend on the seashore for income, an abrupt change to coastal expansion could
harm the financial state of many shoreline counties. For this reason, efforts to raise
awareness about the consequences of living near shores should be directed towards
homeowners whose well being is more important than goods. Moreover, coastal
cities should set out plans to diminish the expansion of construction, for homes at
the very least, in areas of high-risk and reinforce proper management and flood
strategies.






The Cost of Living in Paradise

Bibliography

Beach, D. (2002). Coastal sprawl: The effects of urban design on aquatic ecosystems
in the United States. Pew Oceans Commission, Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved
from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=10F0C793CCE56
1BFA11A01BC27DEED22?doi=10.1.1.175.9787&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Church, J. A. & N. J. White. (2006). A 20th century acceleration in global sea-level rise.
Geophysical Research Letters, 33(1), L01602-L01n/a.

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2015). The National Flood Insurance
Program. Retrieved from http://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-
program

Gilis, J. (2012, March 3). Rising Sea Levels Seen as Threat to Coastal U.S. The New
York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/science/earth/study-rising-sea-
levels-a-risk-to-coastal-states.html?_r=0

Kates, R. W., C. E. Colten, S. Laska, & S. P. Leatherman. (2006). Reconstructive of New
Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: A research perspective. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, 103(40), 14653 14660.

Kemp, A. C., B. P. Horton, J. P. Donnelly, M. E. Mann, M. Vermeer, & S. Rahmstorf.
(2011). Climate related sea-level variations over the past two millennia.
Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(27), 11017 11022.

Leins, C. (2014). The Deadliest and Costliest Hurricanes in U.S. History. US News.
Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-
mine/2014/06/18/deadliest-costliest-hurricanes-in-us-history

Manis, J. E., S. K. Garvis, S. M. Jachec, & L. J. Walters. (2015). Wave attenuation
experiments over living shorelines over time: A wave tank study to assess
recreational boating pressures. Coastal Conservation, 19, 1 11.

Nicholls, R. & A. Cazenave, (2010). Sea-level rise and its impact on coastal zones.
Science, 328(5985), 1517-1520.

NOAAs State of the Coast. (2013). Communities: The US population living at the coast.
Retrieved from http://stateofthecoast.noaa.gov/population/welcome.html

NOAAs State of the Coast. (2011). Urban sprawl: A growing population can restrict
coastal ecosystem services. Retrieved from
http://stateofthecoast.noaa.gov/population/urbansprawl.html

The Cost of Living in Paradise

Plyer, A. (2015).The Data Center. Facts for features: Katrina impact. Retrieved from
http://www.datacenterresearch.org/data-resources/katrina/facts-for-
impact/

Rich, B. (2015). Report cites benefits of living shorelines. Coastal Review Online.
Retrieved from http://www.coastalreview.org/2015/07/report-cites-
benefits-of-living-shorelines/

Thompson, R. (2007). Cultural models and shoreline social conflict. Coastal
Management, 35: 211 237.

Union of Concerned Scientists. (2013, August). Overwhelming Risk: Rethinking Flood
Insurance in a World of Rising Seas Retrieved from
http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/impacts/floo
d-insurance-sea-level-rise.html#.Vkjd53s_5l8

Walsh, B. (2012, November 20). After Sandy: Why We Cant Keep Rebuilding on the
Waters Edge. Time. Retrieved from
http://science.time.com/2012/11/20/after-sandy-why-we-cant-keep-
rebuilding-on-the-waters-edge/

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