The waters of the Black Sea are gradually eroding the shore of Sanzhiyka, a village located 30 km from Odesa. The loamy slopes are slowly sliding into the water, creeping ever closer to people’s homes, yet there are no protective structures along the shore.
The author of the YouTube channel "Underground Safari" showed in his video how the sea is "eating away" at the land.
Landslides do not happen all at once. First, small cracks appear in the soil, then water and wind erode them, leading to the movement of earth and eventually to a collapse.
According to the blogger, such collapses occur almost every year, and the distance to residential buildings is getting smaller and smaller. Only a few dozen meters remain between the landslide line and some of the houses.
Causes of the disaster
The coastal lands themselves are extremely unstable to weathering, as they consist mainly of clay. The main triggers for landslides are the combined effect of atmospheric precipitation and sea storms, which are particularly intense in winter.
“The situation is worsened by the absence of a wide sandy beach that could break the waves. There are also no coastal protection structures-breakwaters or piers. The situation is aggravated by Russian strikes, which create minor seismic vibrations, further destabilizing the slopes,” the author explained.
For locals, descending to the sea has become a real obstacle course. Ongoing landslides destroy stairs, so they have to either build new ones or move the old ones to new, still stable locations.
Lack of engineering protections
Hydraulic structures, such as piers and breakwaters, could partially restrain the destruction, but none are present.
“No large-scale work is being carried out to reinforce the coast, and this creates a real threat to the entire village,” the blogger notes.
EcoPolitic previously reported that in the Danube Delta, extensive work was carried out to restore Lake Karnal. This allowed the natural state to be returned to more than 18,000 hectares of wetlands.
