South Kingstown is building a seawall to protect Matunuck Beach Road from rapid erosion made worse by climate change. But just around the corner lurks a more complicated threat to this coastal community. In 30 years, South Kingstown predicts more than 300 homes will be isolated from the main roads by flooding.
sea level rise
Posted inArticle, Environment
South Kingstown’s beaches are shrinking, and the town’s identity is at stake
Sea level rise and intensifying storms are speeding up erosion of Rhode Island’s coast. Homes, businesses and residents are at risk in unprecedented ways. Communities are wrestling with a daunting question: when is it time to retreat from the sea. In South Kingstown, that’s a question that threatens the core identity of the town.
Posted inArticle, Environment
Pull The Plugs: How A Simple Move May Help Plum Island’s Salt Marshes Adapt To Sea-Level Rise
Walking through the Parker River Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island with wildlife biologist Nancy Pau is to take a tour through the various ways humans have disrupted the saltwater marsh for the last 300-plus years.The area is filled with what Pau calls “legacy infrastructure” — colonial-era irrigation canals and 20th century mosquito control ditches. These drainage canals were […]
