natural environment

Coastal zone is defined as "the coastal waters (including the lands therein and thereunder) and the adjacent shorelands (including the waters therein and thereunder), strongly influenced by each other and in proximity to the shorelines of the several coastal states, and includes islands, transitional and intertidal areas, salt marshes, wetlands, and beaches." Coastal locations were some of the first settled in the country, and have always accounted for a major percentage of the overall population. They were the primary centers for transportation, tourism, recreation, commercial fishing, and other industry. This coastal zone remains a crucial segment of the nation's overall economy.

A variety of natural hazards regularly threaten this coastal zone. Severe meteorological events such as hurricanes, tropical cyclones, and nor'easters are particularly harsh on coastal areas, often resulting in damages from high winds, storm surge, flooding, and shoreline erosion. Tsunamis, whose destructive force is characterized by potentially devastating flood inundation, are uniquely coastal events resulting from offshore earthquakes, landslides, or volcanic activity. Coastal locations are also subjected to the impacts of long-term hazards such as chronic coastal erosion, potential sea-level rise, and global climate change.

Coastal hazard events can significantly affect or even alter the natural environment. Their impacts are generally not considered to be "disastrous" unless they involve damages to human populations and infrastructure. When people and property are not present, hazards are merely natural processes that alter the environment. When people and property is present then the impacts of hazards are viewed quite differently. The primary focus is no longer on the natural processes associated with a major hazard event, but instead on the disastrous results that can be measured by lives lost, property damages, and economic and environmental impacts.

The impacts of natural hazards are becoming increasingly costly and devastating. Hazard impacts on the natural environment become more devastating because human development has altered the ability of natural systems to recover from such events. Experts believe that the statistics on disaster losses continue to rise worldwide due to a combination of factors that include a rise in the number of hazard events due to global climate change or natural cyclical trends, and an increase in human exposure in hazardous locations.

Some of the decrease in disaster damages worldwide could also be the result of improvements in disaster monitoring and reporting capabilities, particularly in developing countries. But disaster loss increases in the United States seem to be most closely tied to increased human exposure in high risk areas such as the nation's coasts.

The United States has an expansive and diverse coastline that supports a disproportionate percentage of the nation's population. The nation's 451 coastal counties contain just over 50 percent of the U.S. population, yet only account for about 20 percent of the total U.S. land area. During the last decade, 17 of the 20 fastest growing counties were located along the coast. In addition, 19 of the 20 most densely populated counties in the nation are coastal counties. These coastal counties possess economic gain through natural resources, maritime trade and commerce.