While some people are arguing about the role of anthropogenic climate change in this freak storm, author Paul Greenberg points out a clearer, more straightforward connection between human activity and the devastation that blew through last night and left much of the New Jersey coast in ruins.
On today’s New York Times editorial page, his essay, “An Oyster in the Storm” reminds us that Manhattan and other parts of the Eastern Seaboard used to be protected by oyster reefs, and these lessened the damage from storm surges past.
Just as corals protect tropical islands, these oyster beds created undulation and contour on the harbor bottom that broke up wave action before it could pound the shore with its full force. Beds closer to shore clarified the water through their assiduous filtration (a single oyster can filter as much as 50 gallons of water a day); this allowed marsh grasses to grow, which in turn held the shores together with their extensive root structure.
But 400 years of poor behavior on the part of humans have ruined all that. As Mark Kurlansky details in his fine book “The Big Oyster,” during their first 300 years on these shores colonists nearly ate the wild creatures out of existence. We mined the natural beds throughout the waterways of greater New York and burned them down for lime or crushed them up for road beds.
Mark Kurlansky is well known for his books “Salt” and “Cod”. I didn’t know he also wrote about oysters – surely a worthy book subject as well.
Greenberg is author of the favorably reviewed book “Four Fish”. He ends with a note of redemption and hope for the human race, describing ways that science has helped us understand the importance of oyster beds, and fledgling effort to restore some remnant of what was lost. The destruction of the original reefs may turn out to be an irreversible mistake, but at least we learned from it and are trying to make amends.
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