Virginia beach vs ocean city

This paper will discuss the reason why did Virginia Beach VA took Ocean City MD in Federal Court on allegation that Ocean Citys breakwaters are destroying Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach accuses Ocean City that its breakwaters are destroying Virginia Beachs coast due to erosion. The breakwaters build in Ocean City are responsible for the lack of fresh supply of sediments in the Virginia Beach area, which results in the shrinking of the coastal area as a result of erosion. Moreover when these breakwaters deflect incoming waves these waves are then redirected to other nearby places like Virginia Beach from Ocean City thus creating damage to the coastal property of the city and its residents.

    The accusation of Virginia Beach is based on the fact that breakwaters never protect the entire coastal area, on the contrary the area where breakwaters are built is saved on the cost of the damage of other nearby coastal areas. In this case Ocean City has tried to save its own property and beach by endangering the neighboring cities and coastal areas like Virginia Beach. Thus it is a selfish act and should not be allowed and any damage which has been caused due to these breakwaters should be paid. Since coastal areas have a very fragile ecosystem and inhabiting these areas and industrializing them exerts a lot of pressure on these fragile areas, it is necessary to take necessary measures in order to keep the marine and coastal environment safe. On the contrary breakwaters are never a good solution for a heavily occupied coastal area, since it will damage the neighboring localities and neighborhoods. Breakwaters are only useful where there is no other inhabited coastal area in the proximity of the building site of the breakwaters.

This is the primary reason why Virginia Beach considered Ocean Citys decision to built breakwaters an illegal action and went in the Federal Court against Ocean City.
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Sea Level Rise


Introduction:
Greenhouse effect or global warming may cause a Sea Level Rise, which will have a great impact on the long-term coastal morphology. The Sea level rises due to the fact that, as the earth warms there is enhanced melting of glaciers and ice sheets, whose melt waters persistently add to the total volume of the oceans. There is also, thermal expansion of the oceans, because as the water warms up it takes up more space, hence leading to sea level rise.

The expected rise in sea level by the year 2050:
At the time EPA report was published in 1995 it postulated that;
“Global warming is most likely to raise sea level 0.5 feet by the year 2050 and by 1.1 feet by the year 2100. There is a 10 percent chance that climate change will contribute 1 foot by 2050 and by 2.1 feet by the year 2100. These estimates do not include sea level rise caused by factors other then greenhouse warming.” Other extreme potential factors that can lead to more detrimental impacts of sea level rise include; increases in sea-level due to disintegration of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Rather than a steady reduction in these ice sheets over time, there is a prospective for rapid disintegration and additional rapid sea-level rise. For instance, if the West Antarctic ice sheet disintegrated it can raise global sea levels by about 5 meters, while if the Greenland ice sheet collapsed global sea levels could rise by 7 meters (Titus & Narayanan 1995).

Impacts of sea level rise to islands or coastal areas:
Flooding:
With millions of people living at less than 80cm above sea level and with the current development going on at the coastal areas globally, increased flooding due to sea level rise will leave billions of people homeless and properties destroyed. This is even made worse of if the threat from sea-level rise is added to that from more intense rainfall due to climate change.

Diseases:
Many harmful pests and diseases will spread and even become pandemic, as freshwater resources are contaminated with sewage and other pollutants. This implies that more people will be affected as other water borne diseases like; Schistosomiasis and Cholera become more prevalent. This inevitably will lower the economy due to the heavy expenditure for patient’s treatment and drugs.

Migration and Conflict:
Places like Florida, Louisiana, and many small island nations in the Pacific oceans, are likely to suffer some of the most severe impacts. For instance some islands and coastal towns could be submerged totally. The immediate effect of this is, millions of internally displaced people and refugees. With the scarcity of fresh water, failing crops, prevalent water borne diseases and mass migrations, there is a high chance of occurrence of local and regional conflicts, as countries respond to rescuing, rebuilding and reconstruction.
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Nature