Which ecological consequence has been documented by geologists due to building high-rises along the shore?

As rising sea levels become more and more apparent along coastlines, permanent beaches are disappearing. Glamorous beaches attract vacationers who flock to such places. Unfortunately, another common denominator is that these beaches are increasingly being lined with high-rise buildings.

Large high-rise buildings have been identified as a contributing factor with some projections suggesting that beach communities may disappear before the end of the century. The global problem with high-rises on beaches is their total inflexibility. When the expected 3 to 6 feet (0.9 to 1.8 m) sea level rise occurs, it will be far too costly to move very large buildings to higher ground. Plus in some locations, there is no higher ground.

Orrin H. Pinkeye Jr. is professor emeritus at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina in the U.S. and J. Andrew G. Cooper is professor at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. In 2014, they co-authored the book, ‘The Last Beach’.

In their 256-page book, they issue an urgent call to save the world’s beaches while there is still time. These two geologists combined case studies and anecdotes from the world’s developed beaches including some in the state of Florida in the U.S. and in Spain. Dense oceanfront developments contribute negatively to ocean beaches.

They discuss the toll taken by construction of massive sea walls built to protect new high-rise buildings from a shoreline, plus the practice of sand mining.