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CrowdScience: Are our coastlines being washed away?

Discussion & Talk

Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

19/04/2024 GMT

Are our coastlines being washed away?

BBC World Service - CrowdScience, Are our coastlines being washed away?

What is coastal erosion and why is it a problem?

What causes coastal erosion and why is it such a problem? Caroline Steel investigates.

Around the world, coastlines are constantly changing due to the power of waves, currents and tides. Coastal areas are also some of the most heavily populated and developed land areas in the world. So it’s not hard to see how the natural process of coastal erosion can cause serious problems for us.   

It’s an issue that’s been bothering CrowdScience listener Anne in Miami Beach, Florida. She can see the beach from her window and wonders why after every storm, several trucks arrive to dump more sand on it.  

In this first of two programmes, CrowdScience visits Anne’s home in south Florida and finds out how erosion threatens Florida’s famous beaches. Caroline Steel speaks to geoscientist Dr Tiffany Roberts Briggs and hears why it’s such a problem for this tourist-reliant state. Tiffany explains the delicate balance between natural processes and human infrastructure.  

Meanwhile, the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico declared a state of emergency in April 2023 due to coastal erosion. Caroline witnesses the impacts of erosion first-hand, as Ruperto Chaparro shows her abandoned houses crumbling into the sea.  

But how can we quantify the rate of erosion? Dr Kevian Perez in the Graduate School of Planning at University of Puerto Rico explains the methods they use to monitor Puerto Rico’s coastlines, and how they are evaluating the effectiveness of different mitigation methods.  

However, some of the methods used to protect coastal communities from the encroaching sea have done more harm than good. So what are the best ways to tackle this problem? That’s what we’ll be exploring in next week’s programme.  

Presenter: Caroline Steel 
Producer: Hannah Fisher 
Editor: Cathy Edwards 
Production Co-ordinator: Liz Tuohy  
Studio Manager: Steve Greenwood and Bob Nettles 

Featuring: 
Dr Tiffany Roberts Briggs, Associate Professor at Florida Atlantic University 
Ruperto Chaparro, Director of Sea Grant Programme, University of Puerto Rico 
Anabela Fuentes Garcia, Villa Cristiana community leader 
Dr Kevian Perez, researcher at the Coastal Research and Planning Institute of Puerto Rico at the Graduate School of Planning

(Photo: Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Credit: Orlando Sentinel/Getty Images)

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