Product Description: With so many cities located on shorelines and tidal estuaries, there are few more urgent topics than this. Taking a global perspective through the lens of case studies from around the world, this book analyzes the problems faced in shoreline stabilization.

Noted coastal geologist Orrin Pilkey and environmental scientist Linda Pilkey-Jarvis show that the quantitative mathematical models policy makers and government administrators use to form environmental policies are seriously flawed. Based on unrealistic and sometimes false assumptions, these models often yield answers that support unwise policies. Writing for the general, nonmathematician reader and using examples from throughout the environmental sciences, Pilkey and Pilkey-Jarvis show how unquestioned faith in mathematical models can blind us to the hard data and sound judgment of experienced scientific fieldwork. They begin with a riveting account of the extinction of the North Atlantic cod on the Grand Banks of Canada. Next they engage in a general discussion of the limitations of many models across a broad array of crucial environmental subjects. The book offers fascinating case studies depicting how the seductiveness of quantitative models has led to unmanageable nuclear waste disposal practices, poisoned mining sites, unjustifiable faith in predicted sea level rise rates, bad predictions of future shoreline erosion rates, overoptimistic cost estimates of artificial beaches, and a host of other thorny problems. The authors demonstrate how many modelers have been reckless, employing fudge factors to assure "correct" answers and caring little if their models actually worked.A timely and urgent book written in an engaging style, Useless Arithmetic evaluates the assumptions behind models, the nature of the field data, and the dialogue between modelers and their "customers."

Three leading coastal geologists provide a guidebook to North Carolina beach characteristics created specifically to enhance trips to the beach for tourists and residents. Original. (view table of contents)

A tribute to the barrier islands of the world invites awareness and conservation efforts, surveys their constantly changing nature, and is complemented by 185 original pieces of batik artwork. (view table of contents)

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Provides an examination of the impact of coastal processes on developed areas, and the ways in which the Army Corps of Engineers has attempted to manage erosion along the United States coastline

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Living by the Rules of the Sea is a primer for people living along the nation’s coastlines, those considering moving to the coast, or those who want a greater understanding of the risks and dangers posed by living at the seacoast. Published as part of Duke University Press’s Living with the Shore series, but without a direct focus on the coastline of one particular state, this book is intended as an overall guide to coastal physical processes, risk assessment of potential property damage from coastal natural hazards, and property damage mitigation.Over the past twenty years, the authors have mapped and studied most of the barrier islands in the United States and have experienced coastal processes such as storms and shoreline retreat at close range. They represent a coastal geology/oceanographic perspective that is decidedly in favor of preserving the natural protective capabilities of the native coastal environment. While strongly anti-engineering in outlook, Living by the Rules of the Sea does provide a review of coastal engineering techniques. It also examines methods of repairing damage to the natural environment that lessen the prospect of further property damage. Finally, it employs a more inclusive “coastal zone” approach rather than simply concentrating on a more narrowly defined shoreline. Barrier islands are viewed as part of a larger system in which changes in one part of the system—for example, the mining of sand dunes or dredging offshore for beach replenishment sand—can have profound effects on another part of the system, predictable effects even though they may not be visible for years or decades.A comprehensive handbook with references to recent storms including hurricanes Andrew, Gilbert, Hugo, Emily, and Opal, Living by the Rules of the Sea is designed to help people make better and more informed choices about where or if to live at the coast. (view table of contents)

Product Description: Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Short Courses in Geology Series, Volume 2. Two major phenomena are making coastal land loss an immediate problem for society. The first of these is the "rush to the shore"—the intense development of coastal areas since World War II...read more

Explains the intricacies of shoreline erosion, tells how construction projects can cause the destruction of beaches, and discusses the ecological aspects of shore home design, construction, and siting

Product Description: Book by Pilkey, Orrin H.