11/26/05
The incredible shrinking Earth
Tri-O's oddities, observations, and opinions
by Herb Kandel

Well here we are near the end of November and anticipating the Thanksgiving Holiday. One of the major things that we have to be thankful for, in this part of the country, is that this horrendous hurricane season is about to end soon. That ‘whoosh’ sound you hear is the collective sigh of relief from all coastal residents.
After witnessing or experiencing a major catastrophe one invariably will hear “I guess it could have been worse.” The truth is - it can usually be worse. Take for instance the complete wipe out of an island. No, this is not referring to the lost civilization of Atlantis but the disappearance of Hog Island. It happened in August of 1893. There was a small barrier isle off the southern coast of the Rockaways, itself a peninsula of the Borough of Queens in New York City. The island was shaped like a pig’s back, reported to be about a mile long , several hundred feet wide and about a thousand feet offshore. It was reached by boarding a ferry for 5 cents and probably within swimming distance, especially at low tide. It became a sought after recreational property on which resided bathing houses and restaurants. Hog Island became a gathering place where the powers of Tammany Hall wheeled and dealed. You can call it a forerunner or prototype of similar beach resort areas which were to evolve in later years. It surfaced in the 1860’s and by the 1890’s it was a developer’s delight.
There was no radio, Weather Channel. or Live Doppler Radar on August 24, 1893 to warn of the impending storm coming up from Norfolk, Virginia which in 12 hours would hit New York City and wash away Hog Island . As late as 1996 according to the New York Times “artifacts -- broken plates, beer mugs, bricks, coal, fragments of dolls and, ominously, the wick of a hurricane lamp -- embedded in the sand.” were still being found on nearby beaches and attributed to that category 2 hurricane. Just gone with the tide.
Also, of note, according to the U.S. Geological Survey “Louisiana lost approximately 1,900 square miles of coastal land, primarily coastal marshes, during the 20th century and could lose another 700 square miles over the next 50 years if no new restoration takes place. That means by 2050 one third of coastal Louisiana will have vanished into the Gulf of Mexico. Nationally, Louisiana currently experiences about 90 percent of the total coastal marsh loss in the continental United States……. that's an entire football field every half hour.”
The sky may not be falling but the coastlines sure are shrinking. If the expanded development along all our coasts continues (and this condition is worldwide) and if the sea levels rise because of additional storm intensities, that may be caused by global warming, then “coastal erosion at widely varying rates affects about 90% of the world’s coasts and is likely to increase” again according to the USGS.
It seems that there should be put in place a carefully thought out plan to integrate the desires of humans to be near water with the certainties of nature utilizing all the scientific resources and the documentation of history. For this we would all be thankful.
It’s a small world after all, and getting smaller. To extrapolate this ongoing erosion let’s just picture the mainland U.S. compacting itself into the geological center of the country. Then Dorothy, in The Wizard of OZ, could no longer say, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.”, because we most likely will be.
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Around the world in 80 clicks
A follow up on a recent column about traveling the world without leaving the U.S.:
For a 360 degree panoramic views take a virtual tour of Stockholm, Rome, Thailand, Egypt, and the Louvre in Paris, among other locales. It is current as it is updated weekly. The sites creator also has ‘Panorama of the Week' and his 'Latest additions' to continue on your journey. You will find this a really neat way to travel and visit places around the globe from the comfort of home and no jet lag!
http://www.virtualsweden.se/
Keyboard Tip: Save a lot of typing by eliminating the http://www/ and the .com.
Just type the name and press the Control and Enter keys at the same time. Those bothersome parts will be filled in automatically.