Brochure: Coastal Sensitivity to Sea Level Rise: Focus on the Mid-Atlantic
This picture was taken from Webb Island Drive, in Northampton County, Virginia.
This revetment along the James River helps to prevent the erosion of Jamestown Island in the vicinity of where Captain
John Smith originally landed the ships that brought the colonists over from England. A text box in the CCSP report discusses
several ways by which rising sea level has affected Jamestown since it was originally settled, including the
possibility that saltwater intrusion harmed the water supply enough to help motivate relocation of the Virginia Capital
to Williamsburg in 1699.
A 4-picture sequence in Chapter 12 of the CCSP report shows this cottage and the front yard being elevated during 2005. Rising sea level was the primary
motive for elevating this home, which was built in 1933 when sea level was almost one foot lower than in 2005. The other reasons were
improved storage of boats under the house, and a better view of the water. By 2005, the average elevation of SUV's in
the yacht club parking lot accross the street was rising faster than sea level. The house is located in Brant Beach (Long Beach Island), New Jersey.
This is the middle shot of a sequence from October 2002. The first shot, from May 2002, shows the jet ski hanging under the house and the geoteextile sandbags are
obviously protecting the septic tank. By the time of this shot, the dune erosion has started to flank the house.
By the following spring, the house was gone. See Figure 12-6 in the CCSP report for the whole sequence.
In 2002 when this picture was taken, an ongoing project was underway on which geotubes were being placed along
on much of the eastern Texas Gulf coast, with a dune built on top of the geotubes.
Coastal Scientists in Texas generaly recognized that these structures were unlikely to prevent
shore erosion during a severe storm; but hoped that they could prevent shore erosion until a severe
storm occurred. The geotubes were destroyed by Hurricane Ike in September 2008.