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Your coastal knowledge resource
Featured Article
Cruise Ship Pollution - Cruise ships have been described as "floating cities" and like cities, they have a lot of pollution problems. Their per capita pollution is actually often worse than a city of the same population, due to weak pollution control laws, lax enforcement, and the difficulty of detecting illegal discharges at sea. In addition to producing and releasing waste products, cruise ships can also have considerable damage to surrounding ecosystems due to their sheer size. Read the full article to learn more!
Today's Coastal Factoid
Southern Ocean's Major Role in Carbon Dioxide Absorption
- Recent research from the University of East Anglia and Plymouth Marine Laboratory reveals that the Southern Ocean absorbs significantly more carbon dioxide (CO2) than previously believed, with direct measurements showing a 25% higher uptake compared to previous estimates based on indirect data. This finding demonstrates the Southern Ocean's critical role in mitigating human-induced CO2 emissions, highlighting the need for improved measurement techniques and sustained data collection efforts to better understand and manage global climate impacts. Learn more from University of East Anglia.
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Beachapedia captures decades of experience and knowledge gained by Surfrider Foundation activists, scientists and staff through hundreds of environmental and educational campaigns on our coasts. By sharing this resource we hope to provide tools and information to help communities make a positive impact on their local beaches. If you would like to contribute please visit this page.
All articles
A
- Access Point
- Accretion
- Administrative Procedure
- Advanced Decentralized Wastewater Systems
- Aeolian Transport
- Aquaculture
- Aquapedia
- Armoring
- Army Corps of Engineers
- Army Corps of Engineers - Working with the Corps
- Artificial Surfing Reefs
- Artificial Turf
- Atoll
B
- Backshore
- Backwash
- Bacteria in Sand
- Bacteria: Fecal Indicator Bacteria
- Bacterial Pollution, Tracking the Sources
- Bar
- Barrier Beach
- Barrier Island
- Beach
- Beach Access
- Beach Cleanups
- Beach Cusp
- Beach Driving
- Beach Ecology
- Beach Fill
- Beach Grooming
- Beach Is Alive
- Beach Loss
- Beach Manifesto
- Beach Monitoring
- Beach Narrowing
- Beach Profile
- Beach Water Quality Monitoring Programs in Coastal States
- Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act of 2000
- Benthic Zone
- Berm
- Bioaccumulation
- Biomagnification
- Bioplastic Glossary
- Bitou Bush
- Blowout
- Blue Carbon
- Blue Water Task Force
- Bluff
- Borrow Site
- Brackish Water
- Breakwater
- Building Setback
- Bulkheads
C
- California State Lands Commission
- Carbon Sources, Sinks and Sequestration
- Cesspools
- Cigarette Butt Litter
- Clean Water Act
- Clean Water Initiative
- Climate Change
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Closure Depth
- Coastal Access in California
- Coastal Act and the California Coastal Commission
- Coastal Barrier Resources Act
- Coastal Compartment
- Coastal ISFSI for Nuclear Waste
- Coastal Plain
- Coastal Resilience
- Coastal Zone Management Act
- Combined Sewer Overflows
- Composting Toilets
- Contaminated Sediments
- Coral Bleaching
- Cruise Ship Pollution
- Cyanobacteria
D
- Dam Removal in Coastal Watersheds
- Dead Zones
- Deflation
- Desalination
- Dispersants
- Domoic Acid and Sea Lions
- Downdrift
- Drugs in the Water
- Dry Weather Diversions
- Dry Weather Diversions in California - Diverted by Diversions?
- Dune
- Dune Profile
- Dune Restoration
- Dune Walkover
E
- Ebb Current
- Ebb Tidal Delta
- Economic Impact of Beaches
- Ecosystem Services Valuation
- Ecosystem-Based Management
- Entrainment
- Environment Effects Act 1978 (Victoria, Australia)
- Environmentally Friendly Surfboards
- Epidemiology Studies
- Erosion
- Erosion Hot Spots
- Erosion Response
- Erosion Watchspots
- Erosion and Coastal Management in Florida
- Erosion, Passive
- Estuary
- Eustatic Sea-Level Rise
F
- Fetch
- Filter Disks
- First Flush
- Flood Current
- Flood Peak
- Flood Tidal Delta
- Floodplain
- Foreshore
- Fracking
G
G cont.
- Golf Courses: Friend or Foe?
- Gradient
- Graywater Systems
- Great Pacific Garbage Patch
- Green Infrastructure and Low Impact Development
- Green Streets
- Groin
- Groundwater
- Grunion
- Gully
- Gyre
H
- Hands Across the Sand
- Hard Stabilization
- Harmful Algal Blooms
- Health Threats from Polluted Coastal Waters
- Healthy Soils
- High Water Line
- Historic Preservation and Surf Resources
- Hold On To Your Butt
- Hurricane Sandy - The Response
- Hurricanes
- Hydrography
- Hydromodification
I
- Illicit Connections and Illicit Discharges
- Impervious Surface
- Impingement
- Indirect Potable Reuse
- Infiltration Capacity
- Integrated Water Management
- International Surfing Day
- Intertidal Zone
- Isostatic
J
K
L
- LNG (Liquified Natural Gas)
- Lake
- Levee
- Littoral Cell
- Littoral Drift
- Littoral System
- Living Shorelines
- Longshore Current
- Longshore Sediment Transport
- Low Impact Surf Contests
M
- Making Waves
- Managed Retreat
- Mangroves
- Marine Debris
- Marine Layer
- Marine Life Protection Act (California)
- Marine Mammal Rescue Agencies
- Marine Protected Areas
- Marine Resource Committees (Washington)
- Marine Spatial Planning
- Maritime Transport Pollution
- Mean Sea Level
- Meander
- Microbeads
- Microfibers
- Mitigation Through Surf Enhancement
- Montauk 8 - A Legal Perspective
N
- NEPA, CEQA, and EISs
- NPDES: National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
- National Ocean Policy
- Neap Tide
- Nearshore
- Nodal Point
- Nonpoint Source Pollution
- Nor’easters
- Not the Answer
- Nurdle
O
- Oblique Wave Approach
- Ocean Acidification
- Ocean Currents
- Ocean Friendly Gardens
- Ocean Friendly Gardens Activist Toolkit
- Ocean Friendly Gardens Criteria
- Ocean Health Index
- Ocean Preservation: A Historical Perspective
- Ocean Reports
- Offshore
- Offshore Oil Drilling
- Oil Pollution Act of 1990
- Once-through Cooling
- Opportunistic Beach Fill
- Overwash
P
- PFAS Chemicals
- Peat
- Pelagic Zone
- Perigean
- Perigean Spring Tides
- Personal Watercraft
- Pet Waste
- Placement Loss
- Plastic Bags
- Plastic Bottles
- Plastic Pollution Facts and Figures
- Plastic's Impact on Climate Change
- Plunge Pool
- Pocket Beach
- Pollution Source Tracking
- Polystyrene
- Pratte's Reef
- Predictive Modeling for Beach Water Quality
- Pulp Mills
R
R cont.
- Revetment
- Ridge
- Riffle
- Rigs to Reefs
- Rill
- Rip Currents
- Riparian
- Riprap
- Rise Above Plastics
- River
- River mouth
- Riverbank
- Riverbed
- Rolling Easements
- Runnel
- Runoff
S
- Sand
- Sand Bags
- Sand Compatibility
- Sand Mining
- Sand Waves
- Sanitary Surveys
- Scarp
- Scarping
- Scour
- Sea
- Sea Breeze
- Sea Foam
- Sea Level Rise
- Seafloor Mining
- Seamounts
- Seawalls
- Seawalls/Photo Gallery
- Sediment
- Sediment Load
- Seismic Surveys
- Semi-Hard Stabilization
- Septic Systems
- Sewer Systems
- Shadow Effect
- Sharks
- Sharks - White Sharks in California
- Sheetflow
- Shifting Baselines
- Shifting Baselines in the Surf
- Shoal
- Shoreline
- Shoreline Structures
- Single Use Plastics
- Slough
- Soft Stabilization
- Soil Carbon Sequestration & Storage
- Sort
- Spoil
- Spring Tide
- Staph Infections
- State of the Beach
- Storm Drain
- Storm Surge
- Stormwater
- Stream
- Stream Terrace
- Sunscreens and Skin Damage from Sun Exposure
- Surf Zone Water Quality
- Surfer Health Study
- Surferpedia
- Surfing Area Protection
- Surfing Etiquette
- Surfing is Not a Crime
- Surfonomics
- Swale
- Swash
- Swell
T
- TMDLs and Impaired Water Bodies
- Terminal Groin
- Texas Open Beaches Act
- The Carbon Cycle
- Tidal Bore
- Tidal Inlet
- Tidal Prism
- Tidal range
- Tidepool
- Tides
- Tombolo
- Transpiration
- Tributary
- Tsunami
- Tsunami Marine Debris
U
V
W
- Waivers
- Washover
- Wastewater Infrastructure and Sewage Pollution
- Wastewater Treatment and Recycling
- Water Cycle
- Water Resources Development Act
- Water Table
- Watershed
- Wave Height
- Wave Period
- Wave-cut Platform
- Wavelength
- Waves
- West Coast Governors' Agreement
- Wetland
- Wetlands
- World Oceans Day
- World Water Day
- Wrack