In a dramatic turn of events, a group of Salisbury, Massachusetts homeowners saw their expensive effort to protect their beachfront homes vanish within days.
Erum Salam reports for The Guardian.
In short:
- A costly sand dune, built by beachfront property owners in Salisbury, Massachusetts to guard against coastal erosion, was washed away in just 72 hours.
- Despite the dune's quick disappearance, the Salisbury Beach Citizens for Change claim it played a crucial role in preventing further damage from encroaching tides.
- The failure of the sand dune project highlights the broader issue of increasing coastal erosion, attributed to rising sea levels and more extreme weather due to climate change.
Key quote:
"Their proximity to the Atlantic Ocean gives them a source of moisture and their northern latitude also firmly places them under the powerful jet stream during much of the year."
— Jonathan Belles, digital meteorologist, The Weather Channel
Why this matters:
This incident not only illustrates the financial risks homeowners are willing to take to protect their properties but also serves as a microcosm for the larger, global challenges of rising sea levels and coastal erosion.
