Coastal management strategies intended to protect people, property and infrastructure from storm impacts can, over decades, increase vulnerability, even leading to the loss of barrier islands, especially as sea-level rise rates increase. Many of these coastal communities rely on federally subsidized artificial widening of beaches with sand–or engineered solutions, i.e. construction of artificially high dunes, to adapt to changing climate threats. Some of these solutions interrupt natural processes that have kept barriers above sea level. Sand deposited on these islands when storm waves knock down dunes is essential to maintain barriers’ width and elevation. But on developed barriers, storm fallout–including overwashed sand on roads–are hazards. Unfortunately, the more successful we are in preventing storm impacts, the less resilient the barrier system becomes in the long term.
Climate Crisis Blog
