Southeast U.S.

Overview

Between 1980 and 2006, coastal southeastern counties showed the largest rate of population increase of any coastal region in the contiguous United States.  As nearshore waters grow warmer, communities may shift; this is specifically true at the population-dense zones around Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and Cape Canaveral, Florida.  Pressures for tourism and development often lead to destruction of coastal habitats and bring tidal flow alterations, and amplified inputs of nutrients and toxins, which impact estuarine and nearshore systems.

TNC is working to mitigate beach erosion, an environmental problem caused by human impact. Photo Credit: (c) Sarah Hartman

Barrier islands, sand shoals, and riverine deltas are geologically unstable and therefore easily impacted by human activities that diminish sand sources. Channel dredging, as is happening in the Port of Savannah, Georgia, impacts shorelines as sediments accumulate in the deepened channels rather than on the adjacent shores. Also, nearshore sand mining, which occurs in several dozen locations along the east coast, can starve beaches of their natural sand supply in an attempt to nourish other beaches. This can cause loss of some beaches, or they may become more temporary as erosion rates increase.

Although sea level rise and storm frequency are typically the primary climate change impacts associated with coastal systems, changes in water temperatures and pH will accompany them.  Lower ocean pH due to elevated global CO2 concentrations, also known as ocean acidification, will inhibit processes oysters rely on for shell development.  Healthy oyster reefs decrease the number of harmful algae blooms and the associated fish kills and beach closures.  A majority of the coastal wetlands lost from 2004 to 2009 were attributed to effects from coastal storms, land subsidence, sea level rise, or other ocean processes.

These issues can prove disastrous for local economies and are some of the reasons coastal resilience is at the forefront of our minds and we are investing so much into finding the best all-around solutions for these issues.