Question
Hawaii Is Losing Its Beaches
Earth and Space Science Studies: Earth's Systems and Interactions
Alice Lunt saw the waves splashing close to her home on December 24, 2013. But she didn't worry. She lives on the North Shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The water had come close in the past. But before dawn, a neighbor called her.
"Everything is washing away," Lunt's neighbor said.
The waves tore out Lunt's deck that day. The next night, they washed away a huge chunk of cement. A fast-moving collapse of the shore was happening. It ripped out a neighbor's yard. Another neighbor lost part of a house. The December swell wasn't due to a freak storm. It was just the large surf that regularly hits the North Shore. It brought up a debate about what should be done about beach erosion and the rising waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Erosion and rising waters are problems in Hawaii. Sea levels have been rising for years. And erosion is a problem at 70 percent of the beaches on Hawaii's Oahu, Maui, and Kauai islands.
What's causing these problems? Burning fossil fuels has led to climate change. The atmosphere is getting warmer. This makes the oceans warmer. Warmer water expands. In addition, ice near the Poles is melting. All of this causes sea levels to rise. This is one big reason why there is more erosion.
The houses on the coast are also part of the problem. Where Lunt lives, the homes were built on sand dunes. Those dunes would normally feed the beach with sand. But now they can't. They have structures on them.
Many homeowners want to put up a seawall. It would stand between the ocean and the homes. But scientists say that this could cause problems. Chip Fletcher is a scientist in Hawaii. He said he knows that people want to protect their homes. But he said studies show that seawalls built on eroding shorelines cause more erosion down the coast. This means a choice must be made.
"Do you build a seawall and [destroy the beach] in front of the seawall, but at the same time buy a lot of time for homeowners on the nearby land?" asked Fletcher. "Or do you not build a seawall, [letting the sea take the homes], but [allowing] the beach to survive?"
In the short term, homeowners got permission to put sandbags on the beach. This has helped slow the waves. It would protect their homes for a little while.
Sandbags don't last forever. In the long term, both Fletcher and other experts believe that the government should encourage people to move away from the coast. This would get rid of the need for seawalls.
Erosion like this will happen again as sea levels rise, Fletcher said, especially in places where sand dunes have been built upon.
"The event on the North Shore is a warning for all of us in Hawaii," Fletcher said. "These sorts of [events] are part of our future."
Information for this story came from AP.
Question 1
1 / 8
What is this article mainly about?
Rising waters in Hawaii are causing problems.
Neighbors help each other when swells happen in Hawaii.
People want to build seawalls on the shore in Hawaii.
Homeowners in Hawaii have put sandbags on the beach.
Earth and Space Science Studies: Earth's Systems and Interactions
Alice Lunt saw the waves splashing close to her home on December 24, 2013. But she didn't worry. She lives on the North Shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The water had come close in the past. But before dawn, a neighbor called her.
"Everything is washing away," Lunt's neighbor said.
The waves tore out Lunt's deck that day. The next night, they washed away a huge chunk of cement. A fast-moving collapse of the shore was happening. It ripped out a neighbor's yard. Another neighbor lost part of a house. The December swell wasn't due to a freak storm. It was just the large surf that regularly hits the North Shore. It brought up a debate about what should be done about beach erosion and the rising waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Erosion and rising waters are problems in Hawaii. Sea levels have been rising for years. And erosion is a problem at 70 percent of the beaches on Hawaii's Oahu, Maui, and Kauai islands.
What's causing these problems? Burning fossil fuels has led to climate change. The atmosphere is getting warmer. This makes the oceans warmer. Warmer water expands. In addition, ice near the Poles is melting. All of this causes sea levels to rise. This is one big reason why there is more erosion.
The houses on the coast are also part of the problem. Where Lunt lives, the homes were built on sand dunes. Those dunes would normally feed the beach with sand. But now they can't. They have structures on them.
Many homeowners want to put up a seawall. It would stand between the ocean and the homes. But scientists say that this could cause problems. Chip Fletcher is a scientist in Hawaii. He said he knows that people want to protect their homes. But he said studies show that seawalls built on eroding shorelines cause more erosion down the coast. This means a choice must be made.
"Do you build a seawall and [destroy the beach] in front of the seawall, but at the same time buy a lot of time for homeowners on the nearby land?" asked Fletcher. "Or do you not build a seawall, [letting the sea take the homes], but [allowing] the beach to survive?"
In the short term, homeowners got permission to put sandbags on the beach. This has helped slow the waves. It would protect their homes for a little while.
Sandbags don't last forever. In the long term, both Fletcher and other experts believe that the government should encourage people to move away from the coast. This would get rid of the need for seawalls.
Erosion like this will happen again as sea levels rise, Fletcher said, especially in places where sand dunes have been built upon.
"The event on the North Shore is a warning for all of us in Hawaii," Fletcher said. "These sorts of [events] are part of our future."
Information for this story came from AP.
Question 1
1 / 8
What is this article mainly about?
Rising waters in Hawaii are causing problems.
Neighbors help each other when swells happen in Hawaii.
People want to build seawalls on the shore in Hawaii.
Homeowners in Hawaii have put sandbags on the beach.
Answers
Answered by
GPT-4o mini
The article is mainly about rising waters in Hawaii causing problems, particularly focusing on beach erosion and the impacts of climate change on coastal areas. It discusses the consequences of rising sea levels, including erosion, and the debate over solutions like seawalls and sandbags. Therefore, the correct answer is:
**Rising waters in Hawaii are causing problems.**
**Rising waters in Hawaii are causing problems.**
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