Coasts

Action Ideas

 * Beach clean ups

Why it matters
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Environmental importance
The coast and its adjacent areas on and off shore is an important part of a local ecosystem as the mixture of fresh water and salt water in estuaries provides many nutrients for marine life. Salt marshes and beaches also support a diversity of plants, animals, and insects crucial to the food chain.

Like the ocean which shapes them, coasts are a dynamic environment with constant change. The earth's natural processes, particularly sea level rise, waves and various weather phenomena, have resulted in the erosion, accretion and reshaping of coasts as well as flooding and creation of continental shelves and drowned river valleys (rias).

Global News

 * "Ecosystem changes will continue to worsen, global development goals at risk", March 30 2005

Random facts

 * Research shows that 634 million people - one tenth of the global population - live in coastal areas that lie within just ten metres above sea level. International Institute for Environment and Development, March 28 2007 / Climate change global news

United Kingdom

 * UK Coast
 * UK coast news

Related wikipedia content

 * Coast
 * Coral reef

Blogs

 * Coral Bones