Mexico's beaches threatened by global warming

Global warming is threatening Mexico's beaches, one of the nation's most beautiful natural resources and a huge generator of tourism income and jobs.

According to a front-page Earth Day feature that ran Sunday in Mexico's national daily Reforma , hurricanes and rising sea levels are eating away hundreds of miles of beaches in five Mexican states, including Quintana Roo in the Yucatan Peninsula. That's the southern Mexican state that's home to the beach city of Cancun and other resorts along the so-called Riviera Maya, the wildly popular Caribbean playground that attracts about 40% of Mexico's international visitors.

Hurricane Wilma swept away much of the sugary sand of Cancun's famed hotel zone in September 2005. The government spent more than $21 million in an attempt to restore the beach, but continued erosion has undone much of that effort.

In the past, Mexican beaches destroyed by hurricanes have healed naturally. Cancun may recover its sand with time. Still, environmentalists say human activity is a major threat to Mexico's shores.

Melting glaciers are raising sea levels that could swamp thousands of miles of coast line. Global warming is likewise boosting ocean temperatures, which experts say portends more frequent and more powerful hurricanes. Water pollution and real estate developers are destroying mangroves that help shield beaches from erosion.

Other coastal states hit hard by erosion include Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Tabasco on the Gulf of Mexico, and Sinaloa, home of the coastal resort Mazatlan, on the Pacific, according to Reforma.

Foreign visitors spent more than $12 billion in Mexico last year, much of that at beach resorts. Tourism is the nation's third-largest source of foreign exchange, behind petroleum and remittances. The industry employs 2 million people in Mexico.

Posted by Marla Dickerson in Mexico City