WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. –
The North Carolina coast is a vacation destination for many in our area and over the next century it could go through a major transformation. Sea levels have climbed about 2.5 inches over the past 30 years across the southern end of the state and this number could be on the rise.
It’s hard to imagine the actual sea level rising, but Spencer Rogers, a Coastal Construction and Erosion Specialist for North Carolina Sea Grant, says that’s exactly what it’s been doing.
“Sea level has been rising all of our lifetimes and will continue to rise, said Rogers. “It’s not easy to accurately predict what will happen in 30 or 90 years.”
Rogers says the changes in climate and warmer oceans play a big role.
“The climate impacts are new and different, we haven’t been really paying attention to that or didn’t know as much about it over the past 20 years. In that respect, we’ve learned a lot more about climate in the long run,” Rogers said.
Todd Miller is with the North Carolina Coastal Federation and says the rate at which the sea is rising is worrisome.
“It’s a big concern, sea levels have been rising, and they’re rising faster and faster all the time,” Miller said. “The prediction is over the next 30 years we could be looking at a six to eight inch rise in water.”
Wrightsville Beach started their beach nourishment project in 1965, and because of it, you’re not going to notice sea level rise when your toes are in the sand; you’re going to notice it in flood prone areas further inland.
“This type of sea level rise, isn’t just the increase like in a bathtub, it invades our ground water, invades into our farm fields, we have agricultural ditches that are flowing backwards now,” Miller explained.
There’s over 12,000 miles of shoreline along our coast, when you count rivers and sounds too.
The impact of the rising sea level will vary greatly from the north end of the coast to the south with the Duck Inlet having the highest expected sea level rise by 2045.
“The face of North Carolina, the coast of North Carolina, is going to look very different in the next century,” Miller said.
Rogers says we can get ahead of this problem now.
“Building a house a couple feet higher than what is required is one way we can adapt to sea level rise,”Rogers said.
Philip Prete is a senior environmental planner for the city of Wilmington and says this is not a problem just for the coast but, its effects can be felt here in central North Carolina too.
“The coastal economy is big for the state of North Carolina. It’s a tourism economy, there’s a recreational economy, a fisheries economy and I think it’s important the whole state shares the coast. It’s beneficial to the entire state, so it is important what’s going on, on the coast,” Prete said.
Although researchers predict the sea to rise by six to eight inches over the next 30 years, they still call this rise “subtle.”
If you’d like to read more about this issue facing our state, the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources has updated their sea-level rise study and it’s currently open for public review on its website.
Copyright 2015 WNCN. All rights reserved.
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