blow-out
n.— «Many people don’t realise riding over dunes can do untold damage. “It damages the native vegetation and subsequently the dunes. Those pathways lead to what’s called “blow-outs”—producing a funnelling effect of wind from the beach. Even a small footpath can become more and more pronounced and results in the dune moving or retreating hundreds of metres in cases. Browns Beach is a good example. It has now lost two-thirds of the camping ground to the dunes just from fishers traipsing along a narrow path to the beach.”» —“Illegal fun” by Jenny Oldland, Kathryn Crisell Country Times (Kadina, South Australia) Nov. 7, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Astronauts returning from space say they experience what’s called the overview effect, a new understanding of the fragility of our planet and our need to reflect on what humans all share as a species. A book about the end of the universe...
Amid court-ordered busing in the 1970s, a middle-school teacher tried to distract her nervous students on the first day of class with this strange assignment: find a monarch caterpillar. The result? A memorable lesson in the miracle of metamorphosis...