Crumbling Cliffs: How Coasts Are Shaped by Erosion

Every year, parts of the Holderness Coast in East Yorkshire, UK, lose up to two metres of land — permanently swallowed by the sea. Since Roman times, more than thirty villages have vanished into the water there. That is one of the fastest rates of coastal erosion on Earth. Think about what that means: a road, a house, a field — gone within a lifetime. How does the sea have the power to destroy solid land? You probably already know that waves are involved, but the real story is much more detailed than 'waves hit the cliff and it falls down'.