What a Rising Sea Level Can Shrink

When sea levels rise, we can protect our beaches or your beach house…but not necessarily both

Rising Sea Levels

When sea levels rise, they naturally preserve our beaches by pushing wetlands and sand inland:

However, if a seawall (or bulkhead) prevents the landward migration of tidal wetlands, then we have a coastal squeeze that eradicates the natural beach habitat:

People build seawalls and bulkheads to protect their homes from a rising sea level that would wash them away:

But when they build those walls, the beach shrinks.

So yes, we can let rising waters have their natural impact and preserve our beaches.

Or…

We can let beach house owners build the walls that preserve their homes.

And it’s not just the houses.

Rhode Island’s village of Matunuck built a wall that shrunk the beach until it disappeared but kept the road and the water main.

Our Bottom Line: The Problem of the Commons

Because we have none of the incentives created by ownership, beaches suffer from the tragedy of the commons. First described in 1968 by Garrett Hardin, a resource owned by no one is abused by everyone. We pollute the air and overfish the ocean. We don’t wash a rental car. We’ve blocked close to a third of the earth’s sandy coastlines.

However, economics Nobel prize winner Elinor Ostrom said we actually have a solvable Problem of the Commons. Her research displayed that voluntary community cooperation eliminates the abuse of a shared resource. One example was a Swiss pasture for which farmers met and formed rules that all observed. Similarly, she explained how a previously messy faculty refrigerator became neat. In both examples, they needed no central planner. People cooperate more than we expect.

Why not the beach?

My sources and more: Thanks to the NY Times for inspiring today’s post. From there, NOAA Fisheries had the ideal explanation and graphics. Please note that several of today’s sentences about the commons were in a past econlife post.