Tidal flooding, extreme weather, climate migration: Rising sea levels have led to countless consequences that threaten people’s livelihoods. But beneath the alarm that headlines like “Oceanfront Home Collapses” incite, there is a slower, more insidious repercussion: coastal erosion. A new assessment by Climate Central predicts that 4.4 million acres of US citizens’ property will be at least partly submerged by 2050, and $108 billion worth of value is at risk by 2100. Coastal erosion is both an economic threat and an issue that endangers people on a global scale — so what is the solution?
Building seawalls or physically transporting sand onto beaches and replenishing coasts can help. Both of these possibilities come with two inherent issues — cost and longevity. Neither lasts more than a few years, and both cost an insane amount. A new discovery seems to remedy the previous flaws: electrifying the coast.
Now, sending electricity through sand sounds confusing, but new research conducted by scientists at Northwestern University provides insight as to how influential this finding could be. Essentially, instead of trucking in sediment or building a wall, scientists would send low voltages through coastal shores, and trigger the binding of minerals that result in a limestone-like fortification.
Economically speaking, the old options cost roughly $14 – $30 per cubic meter, while sending low voltages costs between $3 – $6. One of the biggest drawbacks of past solutions was the inherent economic costs they brought. Not only were they expensive, but they also had to be redone every few years, which creates a heavy financial responsibility that costs taxpayers billions. Instead, fortifying shores with voltages cuts costs by more than half and helps to make maintaining shores a more viable expense.
Other than cost, another benefit of utilizing electricity is that it is completely eco-friendly. Alessandro Rotta Loria, one of the researchers at Northwestern University, stated, “I consider coastal erosion to be one of the top priorities of our time.” To solve this pressing issue, he and his colleagues looked toward nature for inspiration. Their observation that marine life grew durable shells through the precipitation of minerals found in seawater was a breakthrough discovery. This means, the proposed solution is a completely organic process and wouldn’t disrupt integral ecological processes. Further, the voltages used are too low for marine life to “feel,” so coastal ecosystems will not be disturbed.
Although the materialized rock is only 10% as strong as concrete, this discovery is still an exciting new perspective because it creates an entirely new solution that effectively defeats the issues that tainted past alternatives. Before this discovery, scientists were focused on minimizing the effects of coastal erosion (trucking in sand) or dampening the force of ocean waves (sea walls). Utilizing voltage allows them to tackle the issue of coastal erosion at its core: strengthening the shores.
