[ad_1]
Global sandy shorelines are declining in marine protected areas that could threaten plant and animal species and cultural heritage sites, a global beach survey with satellite data from NASA and the US Geological Survey. beaches in the world are eroding, while 27% are growing, showed results published in the journal
Scientific Reports
The view from space allowed researchers to get a better idea of the proportion of beaches on the coast. They found that about one-third (31%) of all ice-free shorelines are sandy or gravelly and that Africa has the largest proportion of sandy beaches (66%) and Europe has the lowest (22%).
Beaches in Australia and Africa are experiencing more erosion than growth, a process that scientists call accretion. The opposite is true for all other continents. According to the authors, it is in Asia that the overall accretion rate is the highest, according to the team.
This is probably due to the development of China's artificial coastline and land reclamation or land drainage. "At this point, we believe that continental differences in beach erosion and accretion are largely influenced by human interventions along the coast," said Arjen Luijendijk, Coastal Development Expert at Deltares, an independent research institute on deltas, river basins and coastal areas. Netherlands.IANS
[ad_2]
Source link
