The totally predictable consequences of climate change

Back when we were grad students at UNC-Chapel Hill from 1977-82, my wife and I made several trips to the Outer Banks. One reason was her uncle and his family, who lived in Buxton, just north of Hatteras lighthouse. What struck me then was how many people lived in homes on the coast in spite of the flooding risk. Not only the storm surge from the Atlantic that washed over the barrier islands from the east, but after the storm passed, the water that collected in Pamlico Sound on the west washed back over the islands from the other side. Buxton was in a wide part of the Outer banks, but if you bought a house on the narrow bits, you were, well, deeply foolish. You didn’t have to be a PhD student to see that.

And here we are, 45 years later:

“In North Carolina, climate change has caused the sea level to rise by about half a foot since 2000, and the level could rise by about another foot by 2050, said William Sweet, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“He added that the amount of sea-level rise in North Carolina is comparable to other nearby states. But the Outer Banks, a low-lying barrier island and a popular vacation destination, is particularly vulnerable to rising waters because it faces rougher waters and is built on shifting sand, Sweet said.

“Rodanthe, located on Hatteras Island, is home to many oceanfront properties with elevated houses sitting on pilings that were once surrounded by dunes and dry sand. Now, that land is often partially or fully covered by water, which erodes the sand around the pilings that support the homes, creating the risk of a collapse.”

Don’t gamble with mother nature.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/18/science/another-outer-banks-home-collapses-into-ocean-stark-reminder-climate-change