Page 562 - Geosystems An Introduction to Physical Geography 4th Canadian Edition

THEhumanDENOMINATOR 16 Oceans, Coasts, and Dunes
COASTAL SYSTEMS HUMANS
• Rising sea level has potential to inundate coastal communities.
• Tsunami cause damage and loss of life along vulnerable coastlines.
• Coastal erosion changes coastal landscapes, affecting developed areas; human development on depositional features such as barrier island chains is at risk from storms, especially hurricanes.
HUMANS COASTAL SYSTEMS
• Rising ocean temperatures, pollution, and ocean acidification impact corals and reef ecosystems.
• Human development drains and fills coastal wetlands and mangrove swamps, removing their effect of buffering storms.
16b
The Saida Landfill in Lebanon sits on the coast of the Mediterranean. Winds and storms
carry garbage out to sea, where it degrades water quality and coastal ecosystems.
[Tomasz Grzyb/Demotix/Corbis.]
16a
A tanker ran aground on Nightingale Island in the South Atlantic in 2011, spilling an estimated 800 tonnes of fuel and coating endangered penguins
with oil. Please review the Chapter 6 Geosystems Now. [Trevor Glass/AP Photo.]
16d
16c
[NASA.]
On Navajo Nation lands in the U.S. Southwest, dune migration is threatening houses and transportation, and affecting human health.
A recent USGS study revealed that the
Grand Falls dune field in northeast Arizona increased 70% in areal extent from 1997
to 2007. The increasingly dry climate of this region has caused accelerated dune migration and reactivation of inactive dunes. [USGS.]
• Degradation and loss of coastal ecosystems—wetlands, corals, mangroves—will continue with coastal development and climate change.
• Continued building on vulnerable coastal landforms will necessitate expensive recovery efforts, especially if storm systems become more intense with climate change.
In Aceh, Indonesia, near the site of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, authorities encourage local people to plant mangroves for protection against future tsunami. [Nani Afrida/epa/Corbis.]
ISSUES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
geosystemsconnection
In Chapters 14, 15, and 16, we examined aspects of weathering and erosion accomplished by the forces of gravity, streams, waves, and wind. In this chapter, we saw the effects of wind and wave ac- tion along coasts, in deserts, and in other environments. Next, in the final chapter of our study of exogenic processes, we look at the geomorphic agents at work in the cryosphere—Earth’s snow and ice environments. These cold-region systems are undergoing the highest rate of alteration as Earth’s climates change.
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