There are many natural occurrences in the world, and some are quite obscure. This is pretty much the case for the Holland island in the Chesapeake Bay which is one of the most interesting islands in the world. But what makes it so distinct? Right off the bat, the island is rather small. But what makes it unique is the fact that it’s eroding at a very rapid pace. Such a rapid pace actually that it just doesn’t have any homes anymore.
The Holland Island was a place where farmers and fishermen lived for a very long time. However, there is no clear reason as to what caused the erosion. The last house on the island fell into the bay at the end of 2010, and since then the island had no people live here at all.
There is a reason why the island is the way it is. According to various geologists, it seems that the land on this island was inundated due to the rise of the sea level. This lead to a constant state of erosion that has unfortunately brought in quite a lot of damage to the island.
This is what caused such a significant loss of land on the island. The Holland Island in the Chesapeake Bay is made out of silt and clay. It’s not rock based like other islands, which is what lead to this problem on its own. Silt and clay are prone to erosion, which is why a lot of people ended up losing their homes.
In fact, the western ridge of the island, in particular, is widely exposed to global warming, and it continues to be the most devastated one. The island size was reduced by half in the last 100 years, so we can expect it to become smaller and smaller very soon. A thing you should note here is the fact that this island may survive a bit more now that humans are out of there and there are no homes.
Still, the Holland Island is a delight to visit. It has a multitude of birds like the brown pelicans, herons, songbirds and terns that can be seen on the island without any problem. But the constant erosion problems may be one of the biggest challenges that you have to deal with when you want to explore this new location.
Throughout the years, people have been leaving the island all the time. But it wasn’t until the late 1970s and 1980s that things started to get pretty bad. This is why the population started to relocate. The region does have plenty of fish, which is why people decided to live here for a very long time.
But the constant erosion problems took their toll, and in the end, we saw what erosion could do to a region like this. So, without any way to eliminate it in a proper manner, we will have to wait and see Holland Island being continually eroded. It’s rather sad, but it also shows the power of nature in all of its glory.