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Transcript for Hurricane Force - A Coastal Perspective, segment 11 of 12
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On America's more than four thousand miles of hurricane-prone coast, landfalling hurricanes will leave their mark in the future, just as they have in the past. From Andrew's impacts on the wetlands and barrier islands of Louisiana to Hugo's impacts on the reefs of Puerto Rico's Culebra to Iniki's impacts on the coast and offshore of Kauai, coastal studies by U. S. G. S. scientists and their colleagues are answering immediate questions about the work of hurricanes while building essential baseline data for assessing and predicting future coastal change. New technology such as spy satellites freed up from the Cold War and remote coastal monitoring stations accessed via telephone lines are ushering coastal studies into the twenty-first century. Results from this work will guide coastal planning on issues of land use and development, erosion control, the movement of pollutants, and the preservation of fragile habitats such as reefs and wetlands. Ever-increasing human pressure on the coastal zone adds need and urgency to better understanding the range of forces shaping America's coasts, from the day to day work of tides to the work of great storms and hurricanes.
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