Erosion is Impacting the Beautiful Beaches of Miami
Beaches are beautiful and offer a variety of activities for people of all ages. You could play on the shore with your friends, read a good book, or simply just enjoy a nice view. The sun, sand, and ocean have attracted a diverse group of seekers throughout the years. Many well-known people take inspiration from Miami Beach.
The beaches of Miami have always been known to give people a sense of community with the abundance of activities and entertainment offered around the beaches. Restaurants, parades, clubs, jet-skiing, skating, snorkeling, volleyball, museums, etc. This is just to name a few things that can be done around the beaches of Miami!
It is because of investor and agriculturist John S. Collins that Miami Beach is even around. The land was primarily used for planting different crops but was later expanded on. To develop the beach into a location for visitors, the Collins cleared the land, and supervised the construction of canals to set up the Miami Beach Improvement Company.
Miami Beach was one of the first beaches in Miami, dating back to 1870 and is considered the most famous resort destination in the world. Sunny Isles Beach had a similar treatment, being an undeveloped beach until later becoming purchased by Harvey Baker Graves and expanded as a tourist resort. Tourists came from all over to vacation in themed motels of exotic design along “Motel Row”.
Throughout the years, Miami’s popularity only continued to rise with movies and shows advertising Miami as a must-see place. In the year 2000, downtown Miami has around 40,466 residents; now, in 2021, there are about 109,617 residents in Miami. People may feel that the positive reception and growing visitors is a good thing, but Miami is losing their beaches. Human development and construction activities result in the unnatural trapping of sand, raising the potential of significant coastal erosion over time.
If you look at the presented Florida map, you will see that it shows all the different beaches and levels of erosion each have. Notice how most of the beaches around Miami are in Critical levels when it comes to soil erosion. Risks of coastal erosion include property damage, the degradation of plant and animal habitats, and the loss of land. The loss of land leads to pollution and sedimentation in streams and rivers, clogging these waterways and causing decline in fish.
A report done from Plasticsfreeinitiative.org shows that “between August 10–15, 2020, community members reported thousands of dead and dying marine life in Biscayne Bay from North Miami to Virginia Key. Affecting over 27 thousand marine creatures from 56 species, this was the largest recorded fish kill in Biscayne Bay.”
In brighter news, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were able to move forward with a program called Miami Beach renourishment. The project was said to provide beach erosion control and hurricane surge protection. Programs like these are the first few steps for a better Miami and a healthier relationship with its environment. Time can only tell, however, if these programs can truly set an example for better movements towards the beach’s future.
