Coastal Zone

All the storms and depressions that formed in the Bay of Bengal during 1974–99 have been analysed. The number of occurrences in July is not in harmony with that of other months of the monsoon. Regions stricken are taken into account on a monthly, seasonal and annual basis. The Indian coast faces almost an equal number of storms and depressions that are formed from June to November. The most vulnerable months for storms are May, October and November for Bangladesh; May for Myanmar; June, August and September for Kolkata–Vishakhapatnam in India and October and November for Vishakhapatnam–Tamilnadu in India. Most of the monsoon depressions cross the Kolkata–Vishakhapatnam coast of India. The frequency of formation has been observed to decrease during the period of analysis. It is also observed that the frequency distribution of the Bay of Bengal storms has two peaks: one in the month of May and the other in the month of November. Copyright © 2003 Royal Meteorological Society

Land-use/land-cover change is the most important factor in causing biodiversity loss. The Mediterranean region has been affected by antropic disturbance for thousands of years, and is, nowadays, one of the most significantly altered hotspots in the world. However, in the last years a significant increase in forest cover has been measured. These new patterns are independent from planned conservation strategies and appear to have a substantial impact on landscapes and biodiversity. We used three land-use/land-cover maps (from 1960 to 2000) covering the Italian peninsula to analyze the pattern of land-use/land-cover change. We measured an increase in forests, especially in mountains, an increase in artificial areas, especially in coastal zones, and a decrease in pastures. Intensively cultivated areas showed a limited decrease while extensively cultivated ones showed a marked decrease. In the same period mammal and bird species followed a similar pattern, with forest birds, ungulates and carnivores increasing, and typically Mediterranean species decreasing. We suggest that our results may provide important information, which could be useful for conservation planning in the entire Mediterranean hotspot. We suggest that an increasing conservation effort should be made to protect the Mediterranean-type forests and scrublands, as well as traditional agricultural practices. Moreover, future conservation efforts should consider the broad socio-political and ecological processes that are most likely to occur across the whole hotspot, especially along coastal areas, and the network of protected areas should be functionally integrated in a conservation strategy that includes the human-dominated landscape.

Fish communities and habitat structures were evaluated by underwater visual censuses a rocky location impacted by thermal discharge (I) and at two control locations, one in a Sargassum bed (C1) and the other in a rocky shore with higher structural complexity (C2). Habitat indicators and fish communities exhibited significant differences between the impacted and control locations, with the impacted one

The scientific literature has documented the growing risks of flooding posed for Asia’s coastal cities by the combination of climate change, as reflected in sea level rise and intensified storms and storm surges, and ongoing urban growth in low-lying coastal zones. These issues were already elaborated in the 2007 IPCC (IPCC, 2007) reports but recent studies indicate that climate change, sea level rise and the sinking of the deltas on which most Asian mega urban regions have arisen, are all occurring at much faster rates than earlier projected and therefore pose even greater risks than previously indicated. Global warming appears to be accelerating and may increase to 4° C or more by the end of this century, twice the earlier IPCC projections. The sea level is now expected to rise by one meter or more by 2100; two or three times the earlier projections. The recent typhoons and rains striking Southeast Asia have been the most intense in decades as would be expected as a result of glob...

Local communities and local government units are recognized as the primary stakeholders and participants in the management of coral reef resources and the primary beneficiaries of small-scale fishing activities in the nearshore areas of the coastal zone. The issues relating to the management of the coastal zone are multi-faceted and some issues are largely intertwined with national policy and development goals. Thus, national governments have jurisdiction over these nearshore coastal resources to harmonize policies, monitor resource use and provide incentives for sustainable use. However, the natural boundaries of these reef resources, the processes that support reef ecosystems, and the local or national affiliation of the people who benefit from them may transcend the boundaries of the local and national management units. Therefore, efforts to arrest the decline in fish catch and loss of biodiversity for reefs require management interventions and assessment activities to be carried...

The Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) is used to systematically investigate equilibrium conditions and seasonal variations of the Benguela system at a resolution of 9 km, including both the large-scale offshore flow regime and the economically and ecologically important coastal upwelling regime. A shelf-edge poleward flow exists in the northern Benguela region (i.e., north of ∼28°S) and is driven primarily by the wind stress curl via the Sverdrup relation. As such, it is strongly seasonal and is most intense during spring and summer, when the wind stress curl is most negative. The poleward flow deepens as it moves southward; between ∼25° and 27°S, much of it veers offshore because of the nature of the wind stress curl and its interaction with the northwestward path of the Benguela Current, which is influenced by alongshore topographical variations. The Benguela Current is driven by nonlinear interactions of passing Agulhas rings and eddies and does not have a striking seasonal s...

The SouthEast Atlantic Coastal Ocean Observing System (SEA-COOS, www.seacoos.org) is a regional partnership that has initiated an integrated coastal ocean observing system for a four-state (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida) region of the southeast coastal United States. The long-term intent of SEA-COOS is to establish a regional coastal ocean observing system that will be part of the coastal component of the national Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) envisioned by Ocean. US. SEA-COOS was initiated in September, 2002 with funding from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) as a coordinating and enhancing effort between several existing subregional-scale efforts in the southeast, the Sea Grant Offices from the four states, and a number of federal agencies. This article briefly describes the essential elements of an observing system, the region-wide observations, overlapping circulation models, data management capabilities, and outreach and education activities of SEA-COOS, at present and planned for the coming year. Development of a governance system has also been pursued, and an initial structure is in place for SEA-COOS.

The Cávado estuary inlet is situated in the coastal zone of Esposende (NW Portugal) where sandy beaches have migrated inland and thinned, and cliffs have retreated rapidly over the last years. The coastal zone of Esposende extends over 15 km from the Neiva River until Apúlia. The coastal segment of Esposende can be considered of mixed energy and wave-dominated type, according to DAVIS and HAYES (1984). The local tide is mesotidal and semidiurnal, with a maximum equinoctial spring tide high-water level of 3.9 m, a minimum low-water level of 0.2 m, and a mean spring tide of 3.49m (data from Instituto Hidrográfico da Marinha). The inlet is a natural feature of the Cávado estuary, subject to silting up, and enclosed between a breakwater on the northern side and the end of a migrant sandy spit on the southern side. Recently, it was suggested that the best option for decreasing silting-up and increasing navigability, would be to build two breakwaters and artificially manage the inlet. Thi...