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More than 60 years of beach survey data reveal the extent of shoreline erosion

Phys · · 804 words · By University
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What to know about More than 60 years of beach survey data reveal the extent of shoreline erosion

The University of Rhode Island has launched a public website featuring over 60 years of beach survey data to track shoreline erosion and the impact of storms. The resource, developed by URI researchers and students, provides visualizations of how Rhode Island's coastline has changed since 1962.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 8
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

More than 60 years of beach survey data reveal the extent of shoreline erosion Robert Egan Senior Editor The University of Rhode Island has made one of the world's longest-running beach survey efforts available online through Rhode Island Beach Dynamics Over…

Why it matters

Since 1962, about four dozen students and several scientists from the URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO), the URI Environmental Data Center, the URI Department of Geosciences and Eastern Connecticut State University have monitored the shorelines of…

Common ground

Their measurements and images reveal short- and long-term changes and the impact of severe storms.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

The University of Rhode Island has launched a public website featuring over 60 years of beach survey data to track shoreline erosion and the impact of storms. The resource, developed by URI researchers and students, provides visualizations of how Rhode Island's coastline has changed since 1962.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-09-years-beach-survey-reveal-extent.html

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
info Single Source 3
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Claim 1: “Around 2023, a real-time kinematic global positioning system replaced the tripod-mounted survey level and stadia rod as the standard practice for beach surveying.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that around 2023, real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS replaced the tripod-mounted survey level and stadia rod as the standard practice.
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web search NEUTRAL — Real-time kinematic positioning (RTK) is the application of surveying to correct for common errors in current satellite navigation (GNSS) systems.[1] It uses measurements of the phase of the signal's …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-time_kinematic_positionin…
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web search NEUTRAL — Around 2023, a real-time kinematic global positioning system replaced the tripod-mounted survey level and stadia rod as the standard practice for beach surveying.
https://phys.org/news/2026-09-years-beach-survey-reveal-exte…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jake Harrington using the real-time kinematic global positioning system for a beach survey. (URI).For most of the survey’s history the work was done with a tripod-mounted level and a stadia rod; aroun…
https://whatsupnewp.com/2026/09/uri-puts-64-years-of-beach-s…
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Claim 2: “Klimasewiski earned a master's degree in data science from URI in 2025.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources confirm Mary Klimasewiski earned a master's degree in data science from URI, with one specifically citing the year 2025.
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web search NEUTRAL — Klimasewiski earned a master's degree in data science from URI in 2025. She applied that knowledge when handling decades of information for the website. "My data science studies shaped how I approache…
https://phys.org/news/2026-09-years-beach-survey-reveal-exte…
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web search NEUTRAL — Mary Klimasewiski, a marine research associate who earned a master’s in data science at URI last year, built the site’s visualizations with Walsh.
https://whatsupnewp.com/2026/09/uri-puts-64-years-of-beach-s…
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web search NEUTRAL — Harvard University researchers used an app to monitor the thoughts, feelings...
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1192439
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Claim 3: “Since 1962, about four dozen students and several scientists from the URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO), the URI Environmental Data Center, the URI Department of Geosciences and Eastern Connecticut State University have monitored the shorelines of eight Rhode Island beaches.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that since 1962, students and scientists from URI's GSO, Environmental Data Center, Department of Geosciences, and Eastern Connecticut State University have monitored Rhode Island shorelines.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A crippling winter and ice storm, unofficially named Winter Storm Uri by the Weather Channel and various media outlets and government agencies, also referred to as the Great Texas Freeze or Snowmagedd…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_13–17,_2021_North_Ame…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list of United States natural disasters is a list of notable natural disasters that occurred in the United States after 1816. Due to inflation, the monetary damage estimates are not comparable. U…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_disasters_in_t…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It serves as the state's flagship public research institu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Rhode_Island
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 4: “The University of Rhode Island has made one of the world's longest-running beach survey efforts available online through Rhode Island Beach Dynamics Over Decades, a new public website.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources confirm that the University of Rhode Island launched a public website called 'Rhode Island Beach Dynamics Over Decades' featuring long-term beach survey data.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It serves as the state's flagship public research institu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Rhode_Island
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The history of Rhode Island is an overview of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and the state of Rhode Island from pre-colonial times to the present.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Rhode_Island
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Rhode Island is a state located in the Northeastern United States. According to the 2020 United States Census, Rhode Island is the 8th least populous state with 1,097,379 inhabitants and the smallest …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_Rhod…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 5: “Walsh spearheaded the website with Mary Klimasewiski, a marine research associate in GSO.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of dictionary definitions of the letter 'J' and an unrelated website for Junaid Jamshed. No evidence was provided to confirm J.P. Walsh and Mary Klimasewiski led the development.
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web search NEUTRAL — J (minuscule: j) is the tenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other Western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ja…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J
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web search NEUTRAL — J is the tenth (number 10) letter in the English alphabet. It comes before the letter K and after the letter I. The letter was not used in the Roman civilization until the 14th Century. J is pronounce…
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/J
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web search NEUTRAL — Welcome to J. Junaid Jamshed Pakistan & Global online store. Shop online for the latest trends of Women unstitched, Kurti, Stitched suits, Men Kameez shalwar, Kurta, Waistcoats, Sherwani & wedding col…
https://www.junaidjamshed.com/
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Claim 6: “The website took a year and a half to develop.”
SINGLE SOURCE
Only one specific source ('The Toll of Storms on Rhode Island's Beach Shoreline') mentions that the website took a year and a half to develop.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_Dynamics
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Beach evolution is a natural process occurring along shorelines where sea, lake, or river water erodes the land. Beaches form as sand accumulates over centuries through recurrent processes that erode …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_evolution
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Porto Santo Island (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpoɾtu ˈsɐ̃tu] ; Portuguese: Ilha do Porto Santo) is a Portuguese island and municipality 43 kilometres (23 nautical miles) northeast of Madeira Island i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porto_Santo_Island
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “As the supervisor of the GSO beach survey since 2020, Walsh is proud that more than 60 years of scientific data have been preserved and are now available to the public.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent sources confirm that J.P. Walsh has been the supervisor of the GSO beach survey since 2020.
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web search NEUTRAL — As the supervisor of the GSO beach survey since 2020, Walsh is proud that more than 60 years of scientific data have been preserved and are now available to the public.
https://phys.org/news/2026-09-years-beach-survey-reveal-exte…
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web search NEUTRAL — J.P. Walsh became the supervisor of the GSO beach survey in 2020. Real-time kinematic GPS technology became the standard for surveying in 2023. The university launched the public website in September …
https://wisevoter.com/world/us/ri/2026/09/27/uri-launches-be…
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web search NEUTRAL — “The profiles demonstrate how the beach is alive — growing, shrinking, and changing as seawater and sedimentation reshape it,” said J.P. Walsh, a URI professor of oceanography who has supervised the s…
https://whatsupnewp.com/2026/09/uri-puts-64-years-of-beach-s…
info
Claim 8: “One example is Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Though Sandy did not hit Rhode Island directly, it caused high water levels and large waves that induced significant beach and dune changes.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence contains general Wikipedia entries about hurricanes and tropical cyclones, but nothing specifically confirming the impact of Hurricane Sandy on Rhode Island's beaches and dunes.
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web search NEUTRAL — An Atlantic hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone that forms in the Atlantic Ocean primarily between June and November. These storms are continuously rotating around a low-pressure center, which cau…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_hurricane
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web search NEUTRAL — 1 hour ago · Building Your Hurricane Knowledge Kit ‹ National Hurricane Center Track Forecast Cone (2026) Building Your Hurricane "Knowledge" Kit: Storm Surge Warning Building Your Hurricane "Knowledg…
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/
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web search NEUTRAL — Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names, including hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply cyclone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.