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The topic of climate change and the consequences for Rhode Island as sea levels rise drew about 160 home and business owners, educators and municipal officials to an all-day conference June 17 at The Towers in Narragansett.
Sponsored by The Nature Conservancy of Rhode Island, the RI Sea Grant Program and the 2008 URI Honors Colloquium, the program was long on informative presentations and questions and short on breaks as participants disseminated a lot of data including some dramatic illustrations showing how the state’s shoreline will be impacted by sea level rise. The title of the program was “Climate Change and Rhode Island’s Coast: Where Will Tomorrow’s Shoreline Be?”
Peter August, director of the Coastal Institute, served as master of ceremonies at the conference on climate change and its effects on Rhode Island's coast.
“The debate is over—climate change is happening,” said Peter August, director of the Coastal Institute who was master of ceremonies of the program which was free to the public. August explained that the array of speakers that day would address various aspects of climate change and what they will mean to the state’s coastline.
Grover Fugate, executive director of the RI Coastal Resources Management
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Council (CRMC), noted that the state already has climate change policies in place and if there was one word to sum up the situation for the state it is “adaptation.”
Kate Moran, associate dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography, described how climate change is affecting sea ice.
Rhode Island he added, is a “very precarious state” when it comes to the projected rise in sea level caused by climate change plus its vulnerability to big storms and abnormal tides. As more restrictions are placed on development in coastal zones, he cautioned, there will be legal challenges as well.
Kate Moran, associate dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography and an Arctic researcher, said there are indications that the sea ice in the Arctic may be gone in 15 years and that means a loss of the Northern Hemisphere albedo, meaning there will be less reflection of the sun’s energy back into space.
The consequences of climate change are many, including an increase in storms, drought and ocean acidity. By 2050 one prediction is the sea level will be up a foot and with the loss of ice sheets in the Artic and Antarctic sea level will be up one meter by the end of the century, she said.
Jon Boothroyd, state geologist and a professor in Geosciences, showed several projections on a map of the state’s south coast and how the shoreline will be affected by sea level rises of 3, 5 and 20 feet.
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Janet Freedman, a CRMC geologist, noted that sea level rise in the last 20 years was faster than ever before and that by the end of the century it could be 2 to 5 feet high—higher if the Greenland ice sheet is lost.
Fugate said the state will be facing several issues related to sea level rise in the future including having developments retreat from the shore, new building restrictions and codes, rolling setbacks and stormwater system changes. He also noted that the day-long program is mainly addressing geological issues relating to sea level rise. Another whole program could be devoted to the environmental impacts.
Jon Boothroyd, state geologist, showed maps of the south shore and how they would be impacted by sea level rise.
Steve Alfred, South Kingstown town manager, described shoreline issues his town is facing. The town has already lost much of its infrastructure at the town beach to beach erosion and faces other challenges such as reconfiguring water mains that serve shorefront properties.
The all-day program concluded with a short reception and entertainment called “It’s a Shore Thing: Coastal Cabaret” produced by Judith Swift, a professor in communications studies.
Published: June 2008
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