Coastal Hazards

A coastal hazard is a process occurring at the coastline that can cause damage to people living, working, or visiting the coastline. The damage can be physical, in terms of injury, loss of lives, and ruined properties, or economic, social, or cultural, in terms of interrupting the use of the [Page 497]coastline (e.g., navigation, fisheries, and recreational use). It is commonly studied under the broad topic of geography because there are spatial variations to both the processes that cause the hazard and the behavior of the people who are affected by the hazard. Coastal hazards are mainly grouped into flooding (or inundation) hazards and erosion hazards but can also include swimming and navigation hazards.

People living near the coast depend on the sea for food, trade, ...