And unfortunately, because science still does not fully understand what sparks sudden and dramatic shifts in climate, it does not know at what point humans could cause such catastrophic changes, which could bring devastating consequences felt far beyond the coast. While the changes taking place on North Carolina's coast are partly natural, they are also partly manmade, caused by sea-level rise exacerbated by greenhouse gas pollution. If you're not too old, you'll see it yourself."
Coastal Federation, 2004 online at "You're looking at one generation," Riggs says. Pamlico Sound will turn into Pamlico Bay, and large swaths of mainland Dare and Hyde counties will disappear into the sea. Most of Ocracoke Island will be inundated, and there will be new inlets near Nags Head, Duck and Corolla.
Hatteras Island will be completely under water except for parts of Buxton. Instead of a long strand of linked sand reefs, the Outer Banks will become small, isolated islands separated by bays. By drilling holes up and down the coast, Riggs has come to understand what North Carolina's beaches looked like 1,000 years ago, when sea level was rising at rates similar to what the computers are predicting for the coming century-and what's in store for us in the not-so-distant future. Indeed, if sea level continues to rise at current rates and storm activity remains intense, the state's barrier island chain will break up completely in a few decades, says coastal geologist Stanley Riggs of East Carolina University, who has spent the last 40 years studying the state's shifting sands. And state and local taxpayers spend millions of dollars each year on controversial beach restoration projects up and down the coast.Īn especially dramatic harbinger of what might lie ahead for North Carolina came in September 2003 when Hurricane Isabel, a relatively mild Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale of 1 to 5, carved a new inlet on Hatteras Island. Three years ago, Mason Inlet at Wrightsville Beach near Wilmington was relocated 2,500 feet northward to keep a vacation resort from toppling into the sea. In 1999, the National Park Service moved Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, a beloved state landmark, 1,000 yards away from the encroaching ocean. Humans are trying desperately to keep ahead of the rising waters. And a period of intensifying Atlantic storms that began a decade ago has repeatedly slammed the swelling seas into the coastline, speeding up erosion of the fragile and ever-shifting Outer Banks and putting lives and property at risk. As the average global temperature has climbed about 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past century, sea level has risen nearly a foot due to glaciers melting and warm water expanding. Nowhere is planetary warming more obvious than the coast. If you visit a North Carolina beach this summer, chances are you'll witness firsthand the effects of global climate change brought on by greenhouse gas pollution.
0 kommentar(er)
