The authors have studied rates of coastal erosion inunconsoli‐dated sediments near the settlement of Varandey on the southeastern shores of the Barents Sea, this erosion being in part provoked by the removal of beach materials and other human activities. At one site erosion attains rates of about 2.0 m/year, and it is estimated that along the section of coastline under surveillance some 170,000 km3of material was being removed annually. At another site the mean rate of erosion attains about 5 m/year. Thermal abrasion is generally not involved in these processes. With the probability of rising sea level in the near future it is anticipated that the rates of erosion will continue or even increase.