"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Impacts from a decade of extreme storms on the coastline of the northern Gulf of Mexico have left many coastal areas vulnerable to future storm events, scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey warned [Thursday].

'Recent hurricanes have caused significant erosion of coastal features, and, in some cases, lowered barrier island elevations. It is important to understand how such lowering of beaches and dunes can increase the vulnerability of coasts to future storms,' said Abby Sallenger, a USGS oceanographer in St. Petersburg.

Sallenger is one of the scientists attending the 2010 science meeting for the northern Gulf of Mexico Ecosystem Change and Hazard Susceptibility Project at the USGS St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center."

Environment News Service had the story April 1, 2010. [2]