Coasts human impact

Malaysia has an extensive coastal line and the country is divided between the west and east by the South China Sea. The west coast of West Malaysia shares the Straits of Malacca with Sumatra Island. The Straits of Malacca, together with the Java Sea, South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, are part of the rich marine environment of the shallow Sunda Shelf. In recent years, the Straits of Malacca has become a very important shipping route connecting the oil rich West Asia to the Far East. Shipping accidents have occurred more frequently in these shallow and narrow channels (Chua et al., 2000). The South China Sea, on the other hand, is poorly understood in terms of its marine biota, ecology, and the human impacts upon it. However, it is anticipated that anthropogenic impacts, such as the over-exploitation of marine resources and pollutions, will threaten the sea (Morton and Blackmore, 2001). 

Some coastal environments may be regarded as rather stable (rock and reef coasts) while others are more vulnerable (sand and mud coasts, soft cliffs). In this last case, coastal users and managers aU over the world are frequently faced with serious erosion of their sandy coasts. Possible causes of erosion include natural processes (i.e., action of waves, tides, currents, sea level rise, etc.) and sediment deficit due to human impact (i.e., river regulations, sand mining, and coastal engineering works). Countermeasmes for beach erosion control function depend on local conditions of shore and beach, coastal chmate, and sediment transport. Continuous maintenance and improvement of the coasthnes, together with monitoring and studies of coastal processes have yielded considerable experience on various coastal protection measures all over the world. 

In the marine environment, cyanobacteria are emerging as contributors to HABs, especially in tropical environments however, their impact is likely more pronounced on the ecological structure of shallow-water reef systems than on human populations. But in some locations, such as the East Coast of Australia, extensive blooms of Lyngbya majuscula, which produce the hepatotoxic lyngbyatoxins, have influenced human health. Nevertheless, some populations of this same species from elsewhere in the world do produce neurotoxic natural products, as reviewed in the latter part of... 

Traditional oral literature has had a tremendous impact on society among village and rural dwellers. The missionaries who came to the coast of Nigeria in the early part of the 19th century brought what we know as western education. They established western-oriented schools which made it possible to establish free primary education in 1976 which subsequently became compulsory. Secondary school education provided opportunities for the development of human resources to meet the challenges of political and economic growth. 

Because beaches and intertidal zones are dynamic environments, the habitats they support are constantly changing. Exposed to energy of the sea and land, they are transformed on a daily, yearly, and geologic time scale. All coasts are subject to erosion, storms, and other natural forces as well as the impact of human activities. 

Metal pollution not only affects humans but also impacts on the entire ecological system. In the Arctic, reindeer and caribou have been documented to be accumulating Cd which has been linked to kidney dysfunction (AMAP 1997), while filter feeders, such as mussels, have also been shown to accumulate toxic metals such as Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn (Mubiana et al. 2005). Mercury has been found to be bio-concentrating at critical levels in the marine environment, with higher concentrations documented in predatory fish and in marine mammals such as ringed seals (AMAP 1997). This has resulted in subsequent bioaccumulation in human populations who consume large amounts of fish, such as the populations of the Faroe Islands in the Northern Atlantic, Maderia off the west coast of North Africa and the Inuit people of northern Canada (Grandjean et al. 1992 Renzoni et al. 1998 Wheatley et al. 1979). 

Landfills, especially marine sites or those near the coast, sometimes pose serious environmental problems because they can give rise to deferred impacts. In the open air, storms can dump thousands of plastic bags close to the sites, sometimes into the sea. These contributions, however, remain localized, in contrast to those due to the abandorunent of waste which is mainly related to human behavior. The latter constitute a significant part but one which is not quantified in the statistics. Experts speak of aroimd 10% of waste that would eventually finish up in the sea. Discharges from ships and rivers constitute a significant part. 

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