66
of sea-level rise (by the year 2100) to the storm surge that these hurricanes will
bring, and it is not hard to imagine barrier island segmentation happening again.
Of course, the effects of segmentation, were it to occur again, would be disastrous at many levels. Natural disasters are only disasters because humans get in the
way of natural processes. The barrier island segmentation 1200 years ago probably
affected tens (perhaps hundreds) of people. Nowadays, at the individual level, many
residents would lose their homes and their livelihoods. At the state level, North
Carolina’s coastal tourist industry would be severely impacted. Anything that affects
a state’s economy does, of course, have national consequences. Think, for example,
of the cost to US of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and the several hurricanes of
2017 and 2018 that affected the US Gulf and Atlantic coasts and coastal plains.
The Future
What can we do about a barrier island segmentation that might happen a year from
now or perhaps a hundred years from now? We cannot stop hurricanes impacting us,
but we can plan for adaptation to whatever new circumstances come our way.
Adaptation is what our species does best and has been doing since it first evolved in
Africa some 300,000 years ago. Opportunity can be the outcome of adversity. In a
little book (‘The Battle for North Carolina’s Coast”) published in 2011, the authors
(Riggs, Ames, Culver and Mallinson) suggested what some of these opportunities
might be in eastern North Carolina. The undeveloped islands would be “A String of
Pearls”, the developed barriers would be “Islands of Opportunity” and the low-lying
“Land of Water” of the Inner Banks (the marshy mainland coast of Pamlico Sound)
could be utilized in new and imaginative ways.
A decade later, we are telling the same story. We must accept the reality of coastal
change and accept it as part of much broader climate change related to global warming. We must accept the huge amounts of data that show human activities have
contributed and continue to contribute to this warming. We must do our utmost to
cut back on carbon emissions and slow down the rate of global warming.
Certain quotes or snippets of quotes sometimes stick in our minds. For me it is
Churchill’s “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never…”, Einstein’s “If we
knew what we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”, Kennedy’s
“Ask not what your country can do for you…”, and Saturday Night Live’s “More
cowbell.” The pertinent quote in this case of global warming and the associated
effects on our coasts, is Gandhi’s “…court of conscience” that “…supersedes all
other courts”. We are all on trial in this court for the climate change and sea-level
rise for which we are the major causative agent. Will we change our behavior for the
sake of our children and grandchildren?
Something happened in beautiful coastal North Carolina (Fig. 4.11) 1200 years
ago. Let us be ready for when it happens again.
S. J. Culver
of sea-level rise (by the year 2100) to the storm surge that these hurricanes will
bring, and it is not hard to imagine barrier island segmentation happening again.
Of course, the effects of segmentation, were it to occur again, would be disastrous at many levels. Natural disasters are only disasters because humans get in the
way of natural processes. The barrier island segmentation 1200 years ago probably
affected tens (perhaps hundreds) of people. Nowadays, at the individual level, many
residents would lose their homes and their livelihoods. At the state level, North
Carolina’s coastal tourist industry would be severely impacted. Anything that affects
a state’s economy does, of course, have national consequences. Think, for example,
of the cost to US of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and the several hurricanes of
2017 and 2018 that affected the US Gulf and Atlantic coasts and coastal plains.
The Future
What can we do about a barrier island segmentation that might happen a year from
now or perhaps a hundred years from now? We cannot stop hurricanes impacting us,
but we can plan for adaptation to whatever new circumstances come our way.
Adaptation is what our species does best and has been doing since it first evolved in
Africa some 300,000 years ago. Opportunity can be the outcome of adversity. In a
little book (‘The Battle for North Carolina’s Coast”) published in 2011, the authors
(Riggs, Ames, Culver and Mallinson) suggested what some of these opportunities
might be in eastern North Carolina. The undeveloped islands would be “A String of
Pearls”, the developed barriers would be “Islands of Opportunity” and the low-lying
“Land of Water” of the Inner Banks (the marshy mainland coast of Pamlico Sound)
could be utilized in new and imaginative ways.
A decade later, we are telling the same story. We must accept the reality of coastal
change and accept it as part of much broader climate change related to global warming. We must accept the huge amounts of data that show human activities have
contributed and continue to contribute to this warming. We must do our utmost to
cut back on carbon emissions and slow down the rate of global warming.
Certain quotes or snippets of quotes sometimes stick in our minds. For me it is
Churchill’s “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never…”, Einstein’s “If we
knew what we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”, Kennedy’s
“Ask not what your country can do for you…”, and Saturday Night Live’s “More
cowbell.” The pertinent quote in this case of global warming and the associated
effects on our coasts, is Gandhi’s “…court of conscience” that “…supersedes all
other courts”. We are all on trial in this court for the climate change and sea-level
rise for which we are the major causative agent. Will we change our behavior for the
sake of our children and grandchildren?
Something happened in beautiful coastal North Carolina (Fig. 4.11) 1200 years
ago. Let us be ready for when it happens again.
S. J. Culver