Coastline Conservation: Addressing Loss in Troubled Waters (LSCI 1301)

This report, prepared for LSCI 1301, addresses the multifaceted issue of coastline loss, a pressing environmental concern driven by human activities such as pollution, overuse of coastal sites, and construction. The report delves into the specific causes, including air, water, and land pollution stemming from industrial emissions, improper waste disposal, and vehicle emissions. It also examines the impact of over-tourism and inadequate resource management. The report further explores the consequences of these issues, including the stagnation of saltwater in agricultural areas, coastal flooding, and the disruption of coastal communities' social-economic structures. To mitigate these challenges, the report proposes several solutions, including controlling pollution through land-based and offshore strategies, managing human litter, adhering to coastline conservation guidelines, and preventing animal fouling. Finally, the report emphasizes the importance of public education and management strategies to promote coastline conservation and protect this essential resource for future generations. The report is a comprehensive analysis of the issue, including recommendations and references to support the findings.

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LSCI 1301 TROUBLED WATERS
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

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LOSS OF BEAUTIFUL COASTLINES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Causes of loss of beautiful coastlines..............................................................................................3
Pollution in coastal regions.............................................................................................................3
Overuse of coastal sites...................................................................................................................6
Constructions on the coastal areas influenced by improved urge of over development.................6
Solutions (ways) to protect and conserve Coastlines......................................................................6
Controlling pollution.......................................................................................................................7
Managing human litter....................................................................................................................7
Following the coastline conservation guidelines............................................................................7
Avoiding animals fouling.................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Recommendations on how to protect and conserve Coastlines.......................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The coastal areas are very essential places for different purposes such as recreational, tourism,
residential , agricultural and fisheries as a source of socio-economic development of the local
community. Some of the activities mentioned above have a great impact on the coast line. The
beautiful coastlines are reaching a crisis. (Ahluwalia, 2015) Currently there are many threats to
the coastlines and the coastal communities continues to grow as development, and disposal
areas , this creates a conflict with the long-term processes. Other threats to the coastlines ,
such as reduction in the sediments and rise in the sea level , directly results from damming of
rivers and the impact of global warming. The loss of beautiful coastlines have a great impact
on the environment for instance it has a great impact on the flora and fauna and it also has an
impact on the social life of human beings.
The loss of coastlines will cause the stagnation of saltwater in agricultural areas, hence causing
destruction of palm trees and indirectly affecting the ownership of land. Besides that loss of
coastlines, it causes coastal flooding and affects the economical and habitability of the coastal
areas. Changes in the coastlines have a direct impact to the social-economy for the communities
around the coast. For instance if the coastal communities depended on the natural resources
such as farming and marine productivity, they will be forced to change to other sources of
income. If initially they were able to handle their catchments, it will be difficult and
challenging due to the physical changes which continuously takes [place on the shallow
beaches (Shafi, 2016).

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Causes of loss of beautiful coastlines
Loss of beautiful coastlines is been attributed mainly by the underlying human activities that is
taking place in the coastal regions. Human activities that has greatly impacted on the aesthetic
values of our coastal areas includes;
a. Pollution
b. Overuse of coastal sites
c. Constructions on the coastal areas influenced by improved urge of over development
Pollution in coastal regions
Pollution is the environmental introduction of foreign, unsafe and harmful things in the environs
coastal areas .Pollutants usually affects and destroy the features and quality on the water, air and
land (Harrison, 2011). The pollutant materials introduced into the coastal area affects and
impacts on the beauty and aesthetic value of the ocean. Types of pollution that bring about ocean
problems and affects or reduce aesthetic value of the coastline are:
 Air pollution
 Water pollution
 Land pollution (Dorsch, 2014)
Air pollution
Air pollution affects the air. This is mostly caused by the emission of gases into the atmosphere
hence polluting the surrounding air. The air can be polluted through emission of gases from
industries, improper disposal of untreated sewages and Animal wastes as well as well emission
of polluted gases from vehicles.

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 Industrial emission of toxic gases into the atmosphere
Due to industrialization and increased construction of various industries such as recreation,
hotels and fish industries near coastal area, the industries releases gases into the atmosphere and
most of the time this gases are released without exposing them to detoxification. This results to
reduction in air quality hence influencing air pollution in the coastal regions.
 Improper disposal of untreated sewages and animal wastes
Untreated wastes from the industries channeled out of the industries to the marine areas or
coastal areas causes distortion in quality of air in the surrounding areas. This may bring about air
pollution as the smell coming with the wastes may cause odor and pathetic smell hence making
the ecosystem loss its aesthetic value.
 Emission of methane gases from vehicles and plans into the atmosphere
Due to increased constructions of roads and railway lines that has been increasing over the years
along the coastal regions to support the increased need of tourism, the vehicles, trains and plans
release gases such as methane and ethane from the combusted fuel energy, the released gases are
then omitted into the atmosphere hence polluting the air around the underlying area hence
reducing the quality of aesthetic value of oceans (Britannica Educational Publishing, 2013).
Water pollution
Water pollution in oceans is caused by directly introduction of harmful materials into the ocean.
The pollutants may come through release of agricultural wastes into the water body or the ocean
without first treating the wastes and Land runoff into the marine.
 Agricultural wastes

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Agricultural wastes and residuals when released into the ocean may enhance introduction of both
solid particles and toxic chemicals into the oceans. Both the chemicals and solid residues impacts
on the reduction of water quality as the chemicals may cause diseases to human being as well as
destroy the ecosystems in the ocean (Ranasinghe, 2018). The solid residues as well makes the
ocean looks ugly hence reducing the beauty of the ocean.
 Land run off
This occur when the eroded soils is carried into the ocean through run off from rain or flooding,
the sediments of the soil is infiltrated into the ocean. The flooding can cause picking of
contaminants into the oceans. The contaminants may kill and alter the ecosystem of the ocean
Land pollution
This is improper dumping and disposal of solid such as garbage and liquid wastes such as
hospital liquid wastes near the environs of the ocean. Land pollution nears oceans makes the land
to look dirty and uncomfortable hence affecting the beautification of the coastal areas (Hill,
2015).
Overuse of coastal sites
Exploitation and excess use of coastal sites has greatly impacted in loss of aesthetic value of
many oceans in the work. Overuse of coastal site may come as a result of lack of proper
management to manage the ocean and the resources of the ocean and excessive tourism.
i. Excessive tourism-Over tourism causes overexploitation of resources around the
ocean as well as destruction of ecosystem of the ocean. This may deplete the
resources and leave the ecosystem bare hence making the ocean to lose its beauty.

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ii. Lack of proper management of resource’s and ecosystem around the ocean has
greatly affected most oceans and the need for conserving the ocean is not seen as an
essential aspect hence making the channels and systems of managing the ocean weak.
This may influence destruction and excess use of the resources leading to its beauty
eradication (Montagna, 2020)
Constructions on the coastal areas influenced by improved urge of over development
Due to limited or no proper regulations on policies on construction and building around or near
marine areas, most oceans around the world continues to loose there originality as well as the
beauty as the construction influences destructions and clearance of ecosystems to allow the
construction and development process to continues, this interns affects the beauty of the ocean
(Harrison, 2011).
Solutions (ways) to protect and conserve Coastlines
There are many solutions that can be put in place to address the challenge of loss of beautiful
coastlines. Some of the solutions include;
Controlling pollution
i) Land-based pollution control
There are many potential land-based sources of pollution. Some of the common land-based
erosions include; run-offs from farm, chemical contamination and different forms of garbage.
Control of land based pollution will greatly contribute to reduction in the loss of coastlines,
control of erosion will ensure that the amount of wastes and chemicals reaching the coast are
reduced hence reduction in the overall loss of the coastlines.
ii) Off-shore pollution control

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Off-shore pollution can be achieved from different sources. Perhaps the most common damaging
to the coastlines is the spill of oils from vessels and tankers in the ocean. Governments and other
authorities should work to minimise the risks .Also it is important to create awareness of the
potential hazards and ensuring that the clean-up organisation.
Managing human litter
This is one of the simplest ways of protecting the coastlines, people visiting the beaches and the
coastlines should ensure that they don’t litter the beach. When litter is washed out into the sea it
usually causes negative impacts to the marine life. Also if the litter remains on the beach it can
also cause harm to the plants and animals (Antolínez, 2018).
Following the coastline conservation guidelines
When people are visiting the coastline it is very crucial to remember that the well- being of the
animals and plants comes first. Some of the guidelines include;
 Not pulling creatures or plants from the rocks and taking care not to walk on the living
seaweeds.
 Avoiding collecting shells and pebbles as they are part of the habitat system. Sea shells
are usually used by other creatures.
 Avoiding contaminating rock pools with oils from the sunscreen lotions and other food
products.
 By all means trying to observe and not interfering with the shoreline creatures.

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Avoiding animals fouling
It’s a normal for people to take their pets for a walk into the coastline .Animal wastes particularly
from the dogs can be foul the beach, hence it is advisable for the owner of the animals to take
the animal wastes from the beach. The seas and oceans have their natural cleaning process.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the loss of beautiful coastlines have a lot of impact on the social-economy of
people, especially for those communities who depend on the coastline activities such as planation
or agricultural of palm trees. The causes of loss of coastlines are grouped into two groups i.e. the
natural causes which include soil erosion and the Human activities such as pollution and
construction. The loss of coastlines will cause the stagnation of saltwater in agricultural areas,
hence causing destruction of palm trees and indirectly affecting the ownership of land. Besides
that loss of coastlines, it causes coastal flooding and affects the economical and habitability of
the coastal areas. In order to protect and conserve the coastlines different measures can be put in
place to ensure that further destruction of the coast is reduced. Some of the measures that can be
implemented include; reducing and controlling both inland and offshore pollution, following the
coastline conservation guidelines and managing human litter.
Recommendations on how to protect and conserve Coastlines
The beautiful coastlines usually offers a fantastic recreational and economic resources for many
people hence there is need to encouragement and promote the conservation of the coast from
different agents which leads to its destruction through;
ii) Managing Public access to the coastlines

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Managing the access of the public can be of great benefit. Simple control measures such as;
paved walkways so that people cannot be damaging the beach dunes or cliffs
iii) Establishments of the clean-up exercises which should include professionals and local
volunteers.
Educating the public the importance of protecting and conserving the coastlines. It will be
important also to educate the public on the measures that they need to implement and practise
References
Ahluwalia, V. (2015). Environmental Pollution, and Health (4th ed.). Texas: The Energy and
Resources Institute.
Antolínez, J. A. (2018). Downscaling Changing Coastlines in a Changing Climate. Journal on
Advancing Earth and Space Science, 2018.

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Britannica Educational Publishing. (2013). Poisoning Planet Earth: Pollution and Other
Environmental Hazard (2nd ed.). Chicaago: Britannica Educational Publishing.
Dorsch, D. V. (2014). Integrated Coastal Zone Management. Journal of Coastal Zone
Management, 23.
Harrison, R. (2011). Pollution: Causes, Effects and Control (3rd ed.). London: Royal Society of
Chemistry.
Hill, M. (2015). Understanding Environmental Pollution: A Primer (3rd ed.). Paris: Cambridge
University Press.
Montagna, P. (2020). Estuaries and Coasts. Journal of the Coastal and Estuarine Research
Federation, 27.
Ranasinghe, R. (2018). Special Issue "Climate Change, Coasts and Coastal Risk. Journal of
Marine Science and Engineering, 14.
Shafi, S. (2016). Environmental Pollution (5th ed.). Sydney: Atlantic Publishers & Dist.