scholarly journals Evidence of Coastal Changes in the West Coast of Naxos Island, Cyclades, Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1427
Author(s):  
Niki Evelpidou ◽  
Alexandros Petropoulos ◽  
Anna Karkani ◽  
Giannis Saitis
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Zone ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Sand Dunes ◽  
Aegean Sea ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
Ecological Importance ◽  
Definition Of

Coastal lagoons and dunes are of great ecological importance, not only for providing habitats for rare flora and fauna, but also for protecting coastal areas from rising sea levels and storms, etc. Even though these features are unique for sustainable development and are extremely important to the natural environment and economy, they are one of the most vulnerable and threatened ecosystems due to their small size. The western coasts of Naxos (central Aegean Sea) represent an example of such phenomena, with various wetlands bordered by low-lying sand dunes. The aim of our study is to assess the vulnerability and pressures of the western coasts of Naxos Isl. by taking into consideration both natural and anthropogenic factors. We used a variety of approaches for the environmental and geomorphological study of the coastal zone to achieve this goal, including: (a) study of aerial photography from 1960 until today, (b) systematic seasonal aerial monitoring by drone, since 2015, (c) use of DGPS for the mapping of the coastal zone and for obtaining detailed topographic sections, and (d) dune mapping. Our findings reveal the vulnerability of the western coasts of Naxos due to sea level rise, tectonic subsidence, and a variety of anthropogenic pressures, such as uncontrolled parking, vegetation uprooting, sand extractions, and heavy touristic traffic. Therefore, the protection of the sand dunes, their restoration where they have been eroded, the definition of a zone of control, and restriction of human activities must be a key priority.

Coastal changes through time is the only constant: Case study of west coast of Naxos Island, Cyclades, Greece

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niki Evelpidou ◽  
Alexandros Petropoulos ◽  
Anna Karkani ◽  
Giannis Saitis
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Coastal Zone ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Sand Dunes ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
The Impact

<p>Coastal areas include various landforms, such as dunes, lagoons and wetlands, which constitutes them as areas of particular environmental and geomorphological values. Coastal lagoons and dunes are of great environmental importance, given that, among others, they provide habitat for rare species of flora and fauna, but they also contribute to the protection of the coastal zone from sea level rise, storms, etc. Although these features are unique elements for sustainable development and are of great importance to the natural environment and economy, due to their relatively small size, they are one of the most vulnerable and threatened ecosystems. Such a case is the western coast of Naxos Island, hosting several wetlands bordering with low-lying sand dunes.</p><p>Naxos island lies in the center of the Aegean Sea, being part of the Cyclades Island group. The western coasts of Naxos include a number of natural features, which have been inherited from their palaeogeographical evolution over the last 10,000 years. Typically, the western coastal zone is composed of a sandy beach, bordered by low lying sand dunes, lagoons and an alluvial plain. These systems are becoming increasingly vulnerable, due to natural processes such as intensity of waves, but also due to human interventions that have blocked sediment input to the coastal zone and the increasing touristic development. The erosion of the dunes, the intense storms, the sea level rise, extreme events such as storms or tsunamis, and the increased tourist "raid", will lead to marine flooding not only to the beach, but also to the lagoons and many acres of land (rural, residential areas).</p><p>The aim of our study is to assess the vulnerability of the western coasts of Naxos to sea level rise, considering both natural and anthropogenic pressures. For this purpose, we used a series of methodologies for the environmental and geomorphological study of the coastal zone and the shallow submarine area, which included: a) photointerpretation of aerial photographs from 1960 until today, b) systematic seasonal aerial monitoring by drone, since 2015, c) mapping of the coastal zone and topographic sections using DGPS and d) dune mapping and sampling, e) sampling of underwater beachrocks. Through our analysis we aim to better elucidate the impact of the relative sea level rise in the study area.</p>

scholarly journals Fluctuation in the Level of the Caspian Sea and its Consequences

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 ◽  
pp. 01064
Author(s):  
Akimgali Kenzhegaliev ◽  
Assylbek Kanbetov ◽  
Dauren Kulbatyrov ◽  
Aiauzhan Shakhmanova ◽  
Ainagul Abilgaziyeva
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Caspian Sea ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Present Stage ◽  
The Caspian Sea ◽  
Industrial Facilities ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Early Neogene ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

While in the early neogene, tectonic and to a lesser extent climatic factors impacted on the sea level, at the present stage climatic, man-made and anthropogenic factors are at the forefront. As a result of an increase in the level of the Caspian Sea by more than 2.4 m, 35-40 thousand square meters km of territory was flooded, during the flooding and flooding of the coastal territory for the period 1978-1995 led to a change in natural, socio-economic and medico-ecological conditions. The consequences of rising sea levels led to the resettlement of about 100 thousand people living in the coastal flooded zone of the Northern Caspian Sea and many industrial facilities.

scholarly journals Trends in the Recent Evolution of Coastal Lagoons and Lakes in Galicia (NW Iberian Peninsula)

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Fraga-Santiago ◽  
Alejandro Gómez-Pazo ◽  
Augusto Pérez-Alberti ◽  
Pablo Montero ◽  
Xose Lois Otero Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fires ◽  
Coastal Lagoons ◽  
Image Interpretation ◽  
Free Water ◽  
Eutrophic Lake ◽  
Habitats Directive ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Flooded Area ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Internal Configuration

Coastal lagoons are habitats of great environmental value. However, they are currently subject to major threats, particularly due to increasing sea levels. This study aims to identify changes—both natural and induced by anthropic activity—and their impact on the recent evolution of three different types of coastal lagoons in Galicia (Louro, Vixán, and Xuño). The application of information obtained through laser imaging detection and ranging (LiDAR) techniques suggests that the outer limits of the three lagoon systems have not experienced any relevant changes in the last 60 years (i.e., no occupation of the lagoon area has been identified). However, the internal configuration of these wetland areas has experienced some alterations. A generalized increase in the area occupied by macrophytic communities (Phragmites australis, Scirpus maritimus, Juncus maritimus, etc.) has been observed. Image interpretation by geographic information systems (GIS) and field surveys suggest that the area currently occupied by macrophytes experienced a 7% to 63% increase at the expense of the free water body. This loss of flooded area is consistent with the increase in sedimentation rates associated with the convergence of several causes, such as the abandonment of traditional macrophyte biomass harvesting and agricultural activities around the lagoons, the expansion of riparian forests, and sediment contributions by erosion due to recurrent forest fires within the drainage basins of each lagoon. Finally, water and sediment composition suggest that, of the three studied lagoons, two of them (Louro and Vixán) are included within the definition of “coastal lagoons” (habitat code 1150) by the Habitats Directive (Directive 92/43/EEC), while the Xuño lagoon should be considered a “natural eutrophic lake” (habitat code 3150).

Environmental and economic impacts of rising sea levels: A case study in Kuwait's coastal zone

2021 ◽  
Vol 205 ◽  
pp. 105572
Author(s):  
Nawaf Al-Mutairi ◽  
Mohammad Alsahli ◽  
Maie El-Gammal ◽  
Mahmoud Ibrahim ◽  
Rasha Abou Samra
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Zone ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

scholarly journals MONITORING OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS IN WORLDWIDE BEACH NOURISHMENT PRACTICE

2018 ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Franziska Staudt ◽  
Bjoern Deutschmann ◽  
Caroline Ganal ◽  
Rik Gijsman ◽  
H. Christian Hass ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Zone ◽  
Coastal Zone Management ◽  
Ecosystem Approach ◽  
Coastal Protection ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Zone Management ◽  
Maritime Traffic ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
The Eu

The growing pressure on the coastal ecosystem, e.g. through fisheries, tourism or maritime traffic demands the careful balancing of activities and developments in the coastal zone. Strategies and planning tools like Integrated Coastal Zone Management (UNEP/MAP/PAP, 2008) or the ecosystem approach (which is planned to be implemented in the EU through the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, European Commission, 2008) aim at a holistic, environmentally friendly and sustainable development of the world’s coastlines. Especially in view of rising sea levels, coastal protection becomes crucial for many densely populated coastlines. For the past few decades beach nourishments have been carried out in many coastal regions as “environmentally friendly” alternative to hard coastal protection structures, such as groins, revetments or breakwaters (Hamm et al, 2002). However, the extraction, transport and deposition of sediment can have (long-term) impacts on the environment, which are often not completely understood. Subsequently, these impacts cannot be fully taken into account in national and local nourishment practice, leading to an insufficient implementation of the ecosystem approach.

Influence of Anthropogenic Pressures on Groundwater Quality from a Rural Area

2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (8) ◽  
pp. 1744-1748
Author(s):  
Catalina Stoica ◽  
Gabriela Geanina Vasile ◽  
Alina Banciu ◽  
Daniela Niculescu ◽  
Irina Lucaciu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Bacterial Load ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Anthropogenic Factors ◽  
Contamination Level ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Limit Values ◽  
Physico Chemical

During the past few decades, the anthropogenic activities induced worldwide changes in the ecological systems, including the aquatic systems. This work analysed the contamination level of groundwater resources from a rural agglomeration (Central-Western part of Prahova County) by biological and physico-chemical approaches. The study was performed during the autumn of 2016 on several sampling sites (four drilling wells, depth higher than 100 m supplying three villages; two wells lower than 10 m depth and one spring). The water quality was evaluated by comparison with the limit values of the drinking water quality legislation (Law no.458/2002) and the Order 621/2014 (applicable to all groundwater bodies of Romania). The results showed that phenols and metals (iron and manganese) exceeded the threshold values in all sampling sites. Moreover, the anthropogenic factors including agriculture, use of fertilizers, manures, animal husbandry led to an increase of the bacterial load, particularly at wells sites.

An Imperial Disaster

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Kingsbury
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Bay Of Bengal ◽  
Full Moon ◽  
Economic Power ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Natural Event ◽  
Cholera Epidemic ◽  
British Rule ◽  
Great Rivers ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

The storm came on the night of 31 October. It was a full moon, and the tides were at their peak; the great rivers of eastern Bengal were flowing high and fast to the sea. In the early hours the inhabitants of the coast and islands were overtaken by an immense wave from the Bay of Bengal — a wall of water that reached a height of 40 feet in some places. The wave swept away everything in its path, drowning around 215,000 people. At least another 100,000 died in the cholera epidemic and famine that followed. It was the worst calamity of its kind in recorded history. Such events are often described as "natural disasters." This book turns that interpretation on its head, showing that the cyclone of 1876 was not simply a "natural" event, but one shaped by all-too-human patterns of exploitation and inequality — by divisions within Bengali society, and the enormous disparities of political and economic power that characterized British rule on the subcontinent. With Bangladesh facing rising sea levels and stronger, more frequent storms, there is every reason now to revisit this terrible calamity.

Potential impacts of global warming on water resources in southern California

2003 ◽  
Vol 47 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 165-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Beuhler
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Southern California ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Scenario Planning ◽  
Potential Range ◽  
Water Supplies ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Rising Sea Levels

Global warming will have a significant impact on water resources within the 20 to 30-year planning period of many water projects. Arid and semi-arid regions such as Southern California are especially vulnerable to anticipated negative impacts of global warming on water resources. Long-range water facility planning must consider global climate change in the recommended mix of new facilities needed to meet future water requirements. The generally accepted impacts of global warming include increased temperature, rising sea levels, more frequent and severe floods and droughts, and a shift from snowfall to rain. Precipitation changes are more difficult to predict. For Southern California, these impacts will be especially severe on surface water supplies. Additionally, rising sea levels will exacerbate salt-water intrusion into freshwater and impact the quality of surface water supplies. Integrated water resources planning is emerging as a tool to develop water supplies and demand management strategies that are less vulnerable to the impacts of global warming. These tools include water conservation, reclamation, conjunctive use of surface and groundwater and desalination of brackish water and possibly seawater. Additionally, planning for future water needs should include explicit consideration of the potential range of global warming impacts through techniques such as scenario planning.

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