Let us start with Oceans:
Put jetties out into the ocean to isolate private properties from other private properties and what does that do to the broad expanse of beach sand that was in front of those properties?
Well, at first there is a slow coriolis force that finds the first jetty to be an obstruction. But as the tide passes down the coastline, the water begins to think for itself. It goes into the forbidden areas and as it goes out, it takes a little of the beach sand with it.
When I was in Tapachula, Mexico, we went to the beach with a person who once had a house there. She was maybe 18 or twenty-four, it makes no difference. When she was a child, she told us, the beach was very wide and very far into the ocean. Then, the money men made two jetties of huge stones, much cheaper that steel piles. They acquired a floating sand digger and cut out a nice little cover for tour boat launches. Open stick and mud stores were set up on one side of the cove. A very modern toilet in a red brick building was for the tourists who would visit the stores.
The young woman pointed to a corner four bricks high and three or four bricks on either side. "That is all that is left of our house," she said.as we walked along a very modern road with tall expressway lights until we saw a break in the road. The light poles were leaning and rusted, absolutely useless. Only one side of the road was useable.
On the ocean side someone had put more boulders in the water across the broken roadway. to stop further erosion. The store and restaurants along the cove were in good shape but half buried in the sand. The red brick house for the toilet ws gone, only the toilet itself was left, half buried in more sand. All because two jetties were placed into the sea. No one wants to remove them because it would be an useless expense without any profit.
Two hotels where I once worked at on Miami Beach, the Fountainebleau and the Eden Roc are next to each other on the Miracle Mile extension northwards along the Intercoastal Waterway, a 3,000 mile waterway from Boston the the Gulf of Mexico, a favorite of yachts and sloops who prefer the protected inland waterway to that of the Ocean itself. And for good reason. The hotels along the way do not want their beaches trashed with oil and fuel, or things tossed casually overboard during parties on board the yachts.
When I worked at the Sea Isle, the Eden Roc and the Fontainebleau Hotels they were great places to work. A few years ago, long before thesee last horrible double hurricanes that hit Pueto Rico, Miami, and Miami, there was another 'cane that went by. The news that came out was that both hotels had flooding in the lobbies but did not say how; was it from the wind or was it from the surge after the winds? If they had jetties to protect their beaches from beachcombers, they would have been losing the sandy beach in front of the hotels.
Naturally. they were able to pay for sand replacement, so there never was a major problem except that one time, as far as I know. Miami is not doing to so well. Street cafes and small restaurants along the Bayfront area are having to build seawalls on the sidewalks to protect their diners who wish to eat on the patios. Naturally, again, the sea walls are usually over the heads of those sitting at the outside tables.
Now we can say that the sea is getting higher, but in this instance, it is the acid waters that are attacking the underpinnings of the city of Miami, and all other cities on the peninsula. Great sinkholes grow suddenly out of nowhere, streets collapse, water mains break and there are multiple problems that are happening. All because of acid in the ocean which has killed acres of coral reef and in the rains falling on the ocean. probably filled with jet fuel ash as the shuttles are boosted into the stratosphere. But not to worry. It all is taking a long time for all of this to occur before anyone even became aware of it all. It will take a few more lifetimes for Florida to float away with the acid water on the coral reef underpinning which created the state of Florida.
Let us look at the mountains instead: Nothing can move a mountain, except puny men. In Chinese school, there was a Chinaman who decided that a mountain was obstructing the sunlight from his home, especially in the winter when the weather was cold. People laughed when he mentioned he would correct the situation himself. He and his sons carried baskets of earth and stone, for a long, long time. People laughed even harder. Then one day, they saw no mountain top only a short plain a bit higher than their lands. Man's capacity to dream made it all possible.
But there are mountains that tear up highways, and building slide down the hills along the foothills. Why were those things happening? And sudden fires that eat up houses; caused by the Santa Ana winds?
People with lots of money can and do dig through mountains to make tunnels and roads around the sides of mountains. Most of the time it is for reaching the other side of the mountain, but periodically, there are those who want the most beautiful drive along the shore. They will plan the best way to level the side of the cliffs both below near the water and up above on the cliffs. when clearing and leveling the land to be used for roads trees and brush have to be cleared out as well.
The ocean roads are used to reach the beaches and to gawk at the sea mammals who live along the routes. A bad storm can destroy a part of the highway which is repaired as soon as possible. Things go well for years, until people who ride the upper roads on the cliffs. find pieces of land that can not only look over the road below but also can have a greater view of the sea. Sometimes, the piece of land is long enough, but seldom wide enough.
Engineers are called in and they suggest a cantilever brace under a pool and garden area that will stand up for years. Again, they have to clear out the brush and any trees in the area of construction. Such homes can be built for long-term residences, but Mother Earth has other ideas.
"Take away my ground cover, the roots of brush and trees that held the earth in place! We shall see about that!" The next good rain over the top of the cliffs. and suddenly, the cantilevers start to loosen. The Engineers thought extra cement would help a lot, but instead the earth behind it failed to hold. Mud slides will carry a pool, garden, house and upper road down the cliff easily.
A woodland cabin on a hill is not safe either when the lawn is laid with short roots. Trees that were on the land, had been used to build the cabin, but never replaced. Brush had been cleared because it was messy. Another rain storm, and the cabin slides down the hill like it is a sled on ice.
One has to be very aware that the land must breathe, just like all life form must breathe.Do not even fool with Mother Nature. . .learn her ways and she will make sure you are safe but ignore the warnings she gives in advance and all can be lost.
