Beaches across the globe are undergoing a process of “crushing,” with rising sea levels and coastal urbanization damaging ecosystems, accelerating erosion and threatening sandy shorelines. Omar Defeo, a professor at Uruguay’s University of the Republic, said that the issue is both urgent and global. “In my presentation at FAPESP [Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo] Day last Thursday, I showed several slides related to our joint work with Brazilian colleagues and collaborators