Case Study: Waikiki Beach

1) Tons of sand has disappeared off of Waikiki beach because of erosion. The salt water flowing in has done a lot to cement slabs that lay under what use to be a lot of sand, but with it all going away lots of the cement and other dangers have been exposed. Sand mining has been its own cause of erosion, by adding new sand it has caused it to mix and erode.

2) They have added sand many times in attempt to make the beach bigger and safer. When I was in Hawaii a couple years ago I remember being told that they had been shipping sand over from Australia and that's why Waikiki beach was a lot whiter in color than other parts of the island. I didn't know why they were doing that I just new that I liked the way the sand felt. Now that I have read about why they were doing it, I don't see the same beauty in the beach as I did before because I remember seeing the cement slabs and other eroded parts, but didn't think it was a huge issue especially causing the sand to erode and disappear. I believe it hasn't been very effective since they have had to replenish the sand many times over many years, I believe they need to try new ways of stopping the erosion. 

3) Economic impacts could result in tourists depleting and causing income of local stores around Waikiki beach to drop. Also, to replenish the sand every time it costs around two point two million every time and if the eroded cement slabs were to break away it would cost a lot to fix and clean away the floating debris. Socially people would not be very attracted to Waikiki beach anymore and people who live in the area would loose interest in visiting the beach and its near attractions. This could also cause people to loose much income if they own businesses near the beach and considering how expensive Hawaii is to live in, especially Waikiki, it will be very hard to remain financially stable there and people could become homeless. Which is another thing I remember about Waikiki, there is a lot of homeless people throughout the city. The environment could be greatly effected, if the cement slabs were to break away it could make it very unsafe in the water off the beach and the parts of buildings and side walk they protect could also start to erode. People could exposed to many dangers if the eroding increases and chemicals start to spread throughout the sand and water along the beach. The plants along the beach and sea life in the water could start to die away if the erosion gets really bad.