Climate of Our Future

Source: Climate Crisis Coalition

June, 3, 2007

Rising Sea Level Redefines North Carolina Coast
By Wade Rawlins, The Raleigh News Observer, June 3, 2007.

“In North Carolina, global warming isn’t a future worry. It’s already lapping ashore … Some beach erosion occurs naturally, and development near the ocean tends to make it worse. But … erosion has grown more pronounced in recent years as the sea level has risen and storms increased … As salt water pushes farther upriver, some rivers are widening into estuaries, tidal bodies of water where fresh and salt water mix. Freshwater swamps are changing to salt marsh … The world’s oceans rose about 6 inches to 8 inches during the 20th century. In North Carolina, the ocean has grown higher by about 8 inches in the past century, because much of the coast is also slowly sinking as the land settles.”