Living With Florida’s Atlantic Beaches: Coastal Hazards from Amelia Island to Key West

Abstract

Review: Living With Florida’s Atlantic Beaches: Coastal Hazards from Amelia Island to Key West David M. Bush …[et al.]. Reviewed by Ryder W. Miller San Francisco, USA David M. Bush. William J. Neal, Norma J. Longo, Kenyon C. Lindeman, Deborah F. Pilkey, Lucianna Slomp Esteves, John D. Congleton and Orrin H. Pilkey. Living With Florida’s Atlantic Beaches: Coastal Hazards from Amelia Island to Key West. (Series Editors for Living with the Shore: William J. Neal and Orrin H. Pilkey.) Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2004. 338 pp. ISBN:0-8223-3251-5. US$79.95 (trade cloth) Acid free paper. Part of the Living with the Shore Series (from editors William J. Neal and Orrin H. Pilkey), and geared for those who need to make practical decisions about coastal mitigation issues, Living With Florida’s Atlantic Beaches is one of many books that explores our vast national coastline. The series also includes books about the coasts of Alaska, Lake Erie, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, New Jersey, and other regions. The many authors of Living With Florida’s Atlantic Beaches describe the dynamic coastline, which is at the mercy of natural forces like erosion, detrimental tidal actions, and strong coastal winds. The book describes the wrath of Mother Nature that exerts itself in Florida through oceanic and weather processes. The book explores in detail the detrimental effects of shoreline erosion and efforts to build shoreline structures. The authors relay the lessons they have learned from unsuccessful attempts to fortify the coast against the onslaught of nature. The work provides guidance for those who wish to pursue their dream of living close to the coast, and provides advice for the potential property investor, decision- making public official, community planner, and visitor. Mitigation efforts have not always been successful in the past: “Coastal engineering is the usual choice of those attempting to protect property and hold the shoreline in place, but more than a century of experience with seawalls and other engineering structures shows us that trying to anchor the shoreline eventually leads to the loss of the beach. The real issue is how to save both buildings and beaches-a most difficult task.” (p.67)