http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1786080/hawaiis_beaches_face_grim_future/index.htmlAll across the islands of Hawaii, residents have stood by and watched helplessly for years as the majestic archipelago’s sandy white beaches have steadily retreated — a phenomenon that geologists warn will likely worsen in the coming decades as warming global temperatures bring rising sea levels around the world.
According to the Associated Press, experts say that over 70 percent of the island Kauai’s pristine beaches are on the decline while Oahu has already seen roughly a quarter of its sandy oceanfront disappear.
-snip-
But for a state that is accustomed to raking in over $11 billion annually in tourist receipts — constituting roughly a third of the state’s economy — the disappearance of its famed beaches presents a dilemma that is more than aesthetic in nature.
Tourism to the islands has already dropped by about 15 percent in the first six months of 2009 thanks to an ailing economy, while state jobless rates have hit a 31-year-high — statistics that already have a number of officials in the Aloha state contemplating the long-term economic impact vanishing beaches a bit more seriously.
-snip-
State officials in Hawaii are already scrambling to develop plans to preserve and rejuvenate the state’s tourist magnets.
In Waikiki, officials have proposed a plan to spend between $2 and $3 million in conjunction with local hotels to pump sand from offshore back onto the heavily tourist-trodden beaches.
(it won't work for longer then a minute - will just be lots of money down the drain)
-snip-
-------------------------