Freitas, J.G., and Dias, J.A., 2013. 1941 windstorm effects on the Portuguese Coast. What lessons for the future? On February 15, 1941, the Iberian Peninsula was struck by a devastating windstorm. Human and material losses were significant. Coastal areas were among the most affected. Storm surge caused by strong wind and low atmospheric pressures favoured overwash occurrence. Unlike other past catastrophic events, there is abundant information on the 1941 windstorm. Historical sources – newspapers, survivor's testimonies and official institutions reports - allowed us to realize its impact on territory and on populations. Until today 1941 phenomenon is still the biggest known storm. However, what happened then is almost forgotten. But, it can happen again. Sesimbra and Ria Formosa coastal areas are excellent case studies to understand what happened on the windstorm day and to discuss what could happen if an event like this reaches those regions again. The analysed data lead to the conclusion that ...

Whale, a common name, a simple word, but so many meanings. An animal, a good, a belief, a surprise, a part of these aspects or the encompassing of them all. It is, for sure, a being of some kind, but one that is described, depicted and appropriated in several forms, in a multitude of ways. To the whale is always assigned a role, but its relevance to distinct groups of society and its presentation to diverse audiences, across history, can be very different from one type of source to another. Working from the question – what's in a whale? – we present a study on the long-term human-whale relationships (from the 13th century onwards) connecting history and literature, to highlight the deep entanglement of societies and cultures with the marine environment. We aim at understanding the significance of whales and how culture, knowledge and values determine human behavior and actions towards these mammals. For that, we run through a long timeframe analyzing the whale, mostly based on Portuguese written sources, in comparison with European data, to discuss it as a commodity, a monster, a show and an icon. What we find is that the whale – real or conceptualized – has continuously been an element of human fascination. It is not merely a whale, but a wonder whale. An animal that still attracts crowds of people when it strands on nearby shores or when its blow is spotted in the horizon. The wonder whale allows for a close connection of people with the strange, enormous, paradoxical, ambivalent, still much unknown, oceanic realm.

The author discusses some of the challenges of developing the environmental history of the nonhuman, presenting the reasons for undertaking a history of dunes and stressing the role of the environmental humanities in enforcing action against inertia when facing the present global environmental crisis.

Costa da Caparica, located south of Lisbon, has been since the 1960s the favourite beach of the population of the Portuguese capital. The bridge over the Tagus river (1966), connecting the two margins, has facilitated the access to that wide beach of sand and dunes. Due to its natural features and proximity to Lisbon, Caparica become a highly populated area, where different social and economic activities compete for the use of the available space, increasing pressure upon the local ecosystems. The situation is even more problematic, because that littoral has been deeply affected by coastal erosion from the 1950s onwards. Authorities have been dealing with the issue using groynes and artificial beach nourishments. Since 2015, the Municipality of Almada is investing in the rehabilitation of the dunes of the beach of S. João, placing fences to retain the sand and planting vegetation. This programme is particularly interesting from a coastal management history point of view, because these dunes have been the object of many interventions with different purposes, but what was done and why is not very well known. The aim of this article is therefore to present the results of a historical research about human intervention in Costa da Caparica and, particularly at S. João beach, starting in the 19th century, with the first dunes’ survey, the afforestation experiences and the construction of a drainage system. This paper offers a long-term perspective on the socio-evolution of these hybrid environments. Results and discussion show how dunes were trimmed by the works carried out and the reasons that laid beneath these. Revealing the ideas and values, the social, economic and political pressures, that across the years and within the same time period, shaped management strategies and landscapes. Keywords: Environmental History; Dunes Rehabilitation; Afforestation; Wetlands; Coastal Erosion.

The village of Furadouro, on the north-western coast of Portugal, is emblematic of current problems of coastal management. The purpose of this article is to analyse the interaction between human communities and the coast in Furadouro, in order to understand how practices and arrangements have contributed to potentiate coastal erosion effects in the last century. The conceptual tools of 'socio-natural sites'; 'co-evolution'; and 'socio-natural sites as nexus of practices and arrangements' guide this investigation. The methodology adopted is socio-ecological long-term research. Data used comes mainly from primary historical sources (church registers, minutes of local authorities' meetings and newspapers) and secondary literature (local writers and monographs). Historical information was cross-referenced with geomorphological data to allow for a more global approach to the coastal erosion phenomenon. The analysis of the evolution of Furadouro shows that human activities determined the increase of coastal erosion problems, not only by contributing to the decrease of sand on the beach, but also by destroying its natural protection structures - the dunes. The reconstruction of past coastal landscapes and human intervention gives us a better understanding of the complex and intertwined history of this socio-ecological site, also offering a model of analysis and interpretation that can be applied to other cases around the world.