Beaches aren't the only area where economic disparities are hurting communities. Check out our video on how "levee wars" are making flooding worse: bit.ly/2ryAHcN

'builds house on a ledge on sand" WHY IS MY HOUSE SINKING WTF

Dubai left the chat.......

I wish they mentioned how this impacted ecosystems

So you’re saying my sandcastle I built is going to be gone soon?

The foolish man built his house upon the sand, and the wise man built his house upon the rock. The rich man built his house and industrial properties on the sand such that the government would be forced to provide insurance against natural erosion.

Did spongebob teach us nothing? I think we should push the buildings away. Problem solved.

Who else is watching this after the Filipino government started dumping sand on Manila Bay

Then there's Figueira da Foz, Portugal, where the beach is actually expanding at a staggering rate, so the government has to actually remove sand. It currently extends for more than 2km from the shoreline to the sea, and keeps expanding almost 100 metres every year n

The problem is caused by the fact that cities/developments were built right on top of the dunes, in some cases bulldozing them completely. Under natural conditions beaches erode during storms but sand from the dunes naturally fall to fill the gaps and build the beach back up, under calm conditions beaches are actually continually growing due to rocks constantly eroding into sand which moves up the coast via longshore drift. That sand is blown up the dune by winds where it settles and replenishes the dune system. When you build on top of the dunes then as the beach erodes in storms it doesn't get replenished fast enough so it gets smaller and smaller until the oceans starts lapping up against the foundations of said building. So to solve the issue we just have to plan new communities better and perhaps begin a process of strategic retreat for existing communities to slowly set developments back from the shoreline and give the dunes a chance to regrow.

It would have been cool if vox at least mentioned some of the several alternative solutions to beach erosion besides beach nourishment.

Didn't even talk about rising sea levels. I'm sure that's not going to help.

I remembered this video from 2 years ago when I saw that a building partially collapsed in Miami a few days ago.

In Veneto (Italy), we place dams made with big rocks in order to destroy waves. Erosion still happen, but this rebuilding process is done as I remember each 10 years

in short don't build any property near any beach.

Hello people, from the Dolomite Beach of Manila Philippines. 🇵🇭🏖️😂

As a civil engineer specialized in coastal engineering, I can say that beach nourishment is the best solution we could come up with for now. Some would argue that concrete wave breakers could slow down the erosion cycle and some countries did implement that. However, reducing wave height and speed can cause a swamp like environment and could eventually change the marine ecosystem and for us humans, it would render the water unswimmable and thus undermining the economic and environmental value of the beach. So yeah, unless researchers could come with a way to make sand somehow resist the cyclic wave induced erosion and stick to its place, we have nothing better to do.

Here’s an idea. Hear me out. How about: WE DONT BUILD TOO CLOSE TO THE SHORE LINES. This is frustrating.

Look for 'sand motor', and see how the Dutch are doing beach nourishment better. For us, it's a necessary task in the pursuit of not getting 3/4th of the country flooded.

Here in Germany we have a system where we place structures into the sea close to the beach. Their surface is built in a way that all the sand that flows away from the beach gets trapped there and so the beach therefore rebuilds itself over time. It's really old and was already used in the middle ages in a similar way. I don't know if it would also work in America but I guess it would at least help

That was really interesting. I've been living near the beach for several years now, and some winters it just disappears. Now I know where all that sand comes from and how it all works.

Life's a beach. Sigh.

Don't build NEW houses by coastlines.

Man this video is awesome! Calm music, and a nice soft voice.. really enjoyable to watch!

In my part of Florida, Pinellas County, our local honeymoon island beach only lasted a few months after being nourished. It used to be massive however in recent times it has rapidly eroded. Luckily, the property isn't a problem since it is within a state park.

We should rake the coastline, so there won't be any erosion!

No mention of the impact on wildlife!?

I like the calm narration, it's so relaxing..

Great informative video once again Vox! The Army corps is doing exactly this right now in my area on the Jersey Shore

They “re-nourished” the beach on Palm Beach Island a few years ago and extended it by about 80 yards or so... Within just a few winter months ALL of the dredged up sand was gone, and it was just like it was before.

Nice video. As a physical geographer specialized in marine and fluvial deposits, I love it when a video pops up that highlights the interactions of humans with the ever changing landscapes. But. The video only states that beach nourishment is not a long term solution. Perfect. Completely agree with that. I respect the fact you need to be aware of the length of the video but human habitation is actually part of the problem of beach erosion. Beaches erode (among others) because their sand supply is hindered by development, for example because buildings and infrastructure fixed the sediment in other places that may act as natural supplies of beach sand with these depletion sites then being replenished by other sites. Another known factor is property development and marine infrastructure changing currents thus redirecting erosive currents towards the inhabited coast. So I was nicely surprised when the negative feedback loop came along at the end of the video. Finally the causes of the problems: humans! But. Maybe I missed it, but the video only mentioned that nourished beaches lead to bigger houses. That is not really a loop. It is simple cause and effect, if the effect doesn't influence the cause again itself. But if you mentioned bigger houses would lead to beach erosion then you have your feedback loop. Again, sorry for the nitpicking. And I do respect your choice on the content, but it felt as a missed opportunity not to mention the fact that our hunger of development actually causes the loss of development.

Found this video very informative 👍

Great video! I would be interested to know what kind of longer term solutions exist or are being researched that would help with this problem!

I did not know that there was something like beach nourishment till today and.... The risk vs rewards seem worth it. The video actually made me supportive of the process

I really like these videos Vox puts out but i found myself getting frustrated because no actual solutions were put forward in place of beach nourishment. Things like increasing vegetation back from the beach in between the sand and development significantly reduces erosion. It's easy to get people riled up (and rightfully) about the disparity that rich and poor communities when it comes to beach nourishment funding, but it doesn't help drive change

This video is great but it leaves out some key factors. nourishments are only allowed on public property since half the funds come from federal money. No ones private beach house is getting nourished. This video kind of insinuates that only the rich get nourishments which isn’t true. In order for a nourishment to happen, the property behind the beach has to grant an easement essentially signing the land over for public use. Of course in more populated and touristy areas signing over the land for a promise of a beach always being there is appealing. All the properties have to do in return for nourishment is allow public access points to those beaches. It’s usually in those places where they haven’t given easement that they won’t receive nourishments. Those places that havent given easement also tend to be VERY rich places because they have more money than sense and are usually less populated because it’s neighborhoods with a ton of mansions and thus less structures per capita so don’t be confused by that stat comparing building size. Finally nourishments are funded by tax payer money so it only makes it fiscally solvent to invest in a coastline that will protect infrastructure. More tourists= more taxes= more funds to continue nourishment.

Funny how at 1:07 at the word "tourism" it cuts to Brighton beach, the least sandy beach in the whole of England and says "the visitors enjoy the sandy coasts"!? #pebbles

I use to work as a life guard at a beach by a campground. My mom use to also work at that same beach as a lifeguard about 30 years earlier. When she visited me at the beach one day she informed me that about 100m of beach had been eroded away since she worked there, and that there use to be campsites where our life guard tower was place. My mom actually works as a civil engineer for the local government and they were planning on putting up rock barriers to stop the erosion on that beach and when I visited her at work her work one time she showed me some of their actual documentation with satellite photos of the erosion at the beach. Each year the beach would lose a few meters, some years it would lose 5m, some satellite photos taken before and after major storms even showed loses of 1-2m in just that one storm.

I did a school project in geography for identifying the"best" option for solving the problem, in the long-term, was a managed retreat. This requires buildings to be moved, but returns it to a natural state where there is a flat coastline by removing current defenses and instead letting the formed cliffs erode.

The dolomite white sand Manila Bay project brought me here

Meh, I say if you are dumb enough to build/invest in beachfront buildings in this era, then I say you deserve to have your “investment” wash away as the sea level rises.

Dutch beach projects near scheveningen, Netherlands have a long term replenishment solution.

"Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn't do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand."

This seems like a case of confusing correlation with causation. Bigger houses aren't being built because of the beach nourishment, beach nourishment is just mostly happening in places with valuable economies, which are more likely to have bigger houses as well.

So... what's the alternative? I mean, it works as long as beaches have the funds to keep up with the nourishment, right?

I swear the weirdest place on earth is the early comments sections of vox videos

Manila Bay 😪

After hurricane Sandy hit the beaches and houses were completely destroyed it was really cool to look at never really thought about how the beaches got rebuilt untill now

So, you're sitting up in Montana and paying-through federal taxes-for the beach of some guy's mansion in Florida? 👎🏽

Vox forgot to mention How the world is running out of Beach Sand. As the sand is taken from Rivers, not the one from the desert as it is unfit for the beaches. It destroys the ecosystem of the rivers while rehabilitating it won't remain as a long term solution.

I live on an island that thrives on tourism and this is a serious problem in almost all sides. However, I was wondering what the natural replenishment of sand is. Since beaches erode quickly, how fast and how much sand can nature provide. Thanks! I enjoy this channel a lot.

Grew up surfing in the South Bay of L.A.. Back in the late 60's early 70's, those beaches had nice sand bars, that would shift a little, but produced excellent surf given the right swell direction. Years later, those sand bars appeared to be scoured away, leaving dreadful surfing conditions.

This is a great video! Thanks heaps Vox!

Another impact of rebuilding beaches worth noting is the loss of "beach combing" - in some areas this can also affect tourism. For example, not far from Lido Key, Venice beach has historically been referred to as the "shark's tooth capital of the world" and Venice holds a shark's tooth festival every summer. After those beaches were rebuilt, finding shark's teeth was nearly impossible. The shark's teeth are fossilized (tens of thousands of years old) - a significant number of finds were from the extinct megalodon, for example (which was bigger than a school bus - and the teeth could be several inches in length). Other fossils could be found along that beach as well, including horse, bison, mastodon and more (horses were in parts of North America thousands of years ago, then disappeared and then reappeared). These fossils are shown at the festival, some are also sold for several thousand dollars each. Once the beaches were rebuilt with sand from offshore, the ability to find these fossils was negatively impacted because the fossils were buried under several feet of new sand.

the beach near my house is getting very eroded, it used to be decently wide with a basketball court and a bathroom, but a couple years ago big waves from an off shore storm eroded all the sand away leaving only small rocks and eroding the wooden deck area and the court. of course a more popular beach is near by so there are minimal efforts to repair the beach and the only repairs are being made at the houses that are now basically on top of the water

Technically the sand is supposed to be put back by the ocean during the summer through a longshore current. Main reason erosion is happening is because not enough sediment is being input into the ocean from rivers due to dams blocking rivers from reaching the ocean fully.Less sand is recycled therefore more sand will keep being taken from the beaches by the ocean during winter tides.

Yeh, beaches are ephemeral structures. Nature giveth and nature taketh away. No one should ever build on them.

This is becoming a fantastic youtube channel

How does nourishment compare with alternative options for preserving coast lines? Nourishment obviously doesn’t stop rising sea levels, but this video did a pretty good job of convincing me it’s a worth while effort until the larger problems are addressed.

I liked the vid before i watched it bc i could just know that it would be a well crafted and important video

Well, what we should do in the first place is NOT building by beaches and ruining natural sand dunes and therefor deleting them in the long run. Dunes are there to do natural "beach nourishment". It's not that hard to respect the enviroment.

Why do none of these beaches have groynes to help reduce longshore drift and erosion? Then the beaches will need less maintenance...

3:55 Entering lost woods in legend of zelda, a link to the past

What you take from the ocean, the ocean will take it back sooner or later.

But if they stopped rebuilding the beaches, wouldn't that bring the 'reckoning' sooner? Wouldn't it make more sense to regulate the amount of construction along vulnerable areas?

Happening right now in Philippines manila bay

Great videos so important Thank you

This is crazy! I actually went to Jacksonville Fl last weekend & was confused on what happened. (Half the beach was closed & they had the bulldozers & everything). Apparently the hurricane displaced it. Interesting video.

I don't get it what are they supposed to do it's not like you guys have a solution.

Since the Army Core of Engineers specifically takes on jobs where there's high risk of expensive property damage, building large homes near the beach is NOT a recipe for a disaster, but rather a good way to ensure your beach will be nourished!

I wish you all had talked about the ecological issues associated with beach nourishment as well.

This is why where I live (which isn't in the US), the beach doesn't stay perfect during the winter. They make hills and holes instead, and the sand from those hills are used to fill the holes when the summer arrives.

The Dutch are laughing

Please show this to the Philippines, especially the prime circus named "malacañang"🙂

Great video. You should look into the issue of rebuilding fire-prone areas, such as Paradise, CA. There is talk of creating a commission similar to the California Coastal Commission, but of course the local government does not want to lose their power.

I was thinking about Ocean City Maryland and then it popped up! My eyes just glow when I hear Maryland or Citys of Maryland in KZfaq videos.

imagine how your great grandchildren have only heard of beaches from old videos and books......

I've been to Miami and always wondered how Miami got so lucky with such wide beaches. Now I know

Look at Marco Island Florida. It's a success story and it's been over 25 years since the last project. The beach keeps growing and growing. In fact in an area that once had a seawall with waves breaking over it, you now must walk nearly a quarter mile to reach the water.

We have had the same thing in Australia, where property developers have been building high-rise apartme ts so close to the beaches.

Manila Bay white sand brought me here HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Hello from Manila White Sand Beach 👋🏼

The fact that they have so much "value" along the coastline is the reason why they get the nourishment in the first place. It totally makes sense that they continue to develop those spaces, they need to up the value to keep the sand pumping.

As a citizen of North Carolina, where all the beaches are on narrow islands, I have been to beaches that are nourished annually, and beaches that are almost never nourished which have homes getting surrounded, and ultimately destroyed, by the ocean

Im here because of manila bay

Naku sana wg mangyare toh satin.

I live in Socal and a lot of the beaches here get nourished. The problem is that at least here in California is that when it rains, that beach erodes in literally a few days from the storm surge. I can't imagine the damage if we ever have a seriously wet winter or if it ever rains for more than two weeks. Don't even get me started on surges, those nourished beaches give you a false sense that you live or are far enough away from the water but it's really scary how far the water comes up now when it rains.

0:59 "erosion becomes a problem when it reaches structures built by humans along the coast" are we sure Vox isn't made up of aliens making educational videos for their alien schools 0_0

Philippine government: dumps white sand

Hey Vox, can you guys talk about retreating from sea level rise next? Florida is going to have to talk about that soon...

Damn now I know about beach nourishments, thanks Vox.

Morro Bay, California Do any of y’all live near the ocean?

Manila has beach nourishment also today. 🥰

I go to a beach in Oak island NC and like in the video they did exactly this to the beach over the summer

I wish you guys had touched on where the sand is going with this piece. The cases of Ocean City and Wildwood is perfect for this. Ocean City and Assateague have been merging into a single beach for decades, but we keep dredging them apart again. Wildwood, on the other hand, traps all the sand that should be naturally moving south (replenishing other beaches) because it's the last beach to sit north of the Cape May harbor. This means that Wildwood has an absurdly huge beach that is a full 500ft away from its boardwalk.

I don't get what's wrong with beach nourishment. Without it we'd lose those houses. And it's economically beneficial too so why not do it? I was expecting some damage to ecosystem or something.

Imagine not having enough sand This post was made by coastal deserts gang

I live in Jensen Beach Fl and we just had our beach nourished last summer

Cool. Informative

Good thing I’m not a beach person, I can’t stand sand getting on everything 😅