Over time, humans learned to built coastal protections that would offset changes in sea level, coastal erosion, and the impact of storm surges.

Thus, humans no longer had to move out of the hazardous zones as the only option for adaptation. An area of command and control of the environment started: Humans developed skills in protecting coasts against the power of the sea, at least temporarily, and by that control the natural processes in the coastal zone. Settlements expanded in more and more hazardous areas prone to inundation and extreme flooding.