Posted on January 1, 2025
By Reide Corbett, Ph.D.
Anyone who has visited the shores of the Outer Banks for more than a season has certainly seen the dramatic changes that occur across these narrow deposits of sand. The changes in these shifting sands along the 200-mile stretch of barrier islands aren’t anything new or unique to the region.
In fact, the same winds, tides, currents and waves that reshape and move our islands today helped create this barrier-island system thousands of years ago.
Natural barrier islands are inherently resilient, constantly moving, growing, and eroding, essentially malleable to mother nature and the ocean’s energy. The current “conflict” we see across news reels today with pictures and videos of houses falling in the ocean and highways washed out is ultimately a product of the changes we have created across these islands…by drawing a line in the sand and hoping we might maintain that same development line into the future.
The key difference between the changes in the barrier islands today and in the past is the infrastructure we have built across much of the landscape. The large dune line, roads, homes and businesses stand in the way of the natural landward retreat of these barrier islands.
This is the first thing we must understand and embrace if we are ever going to create a strong and resilient path forward for our communities in the face of rising seas, strengthening storms, and unprecedented precipitation events.
There are three primary means of addressing our situation: 1. Protect – beach nourishment, living shorelines; 2. Accommodate – “jug-handle bridge”, Ethridge Bridge, people ferry; and 3. Retreat – Hatteras Lighthouse, individual homeowners taking action.
Please note that not all is lost, and this is certainly not a call for a full-scale retreat, quite the opposite. This is simply a reality check — to think differently and understand the basic science of barrier-island dynamics as a starting point so we all move forward in step to consider the future of our Outer Banks.
It is critical that we understand these natural processes to identify our vulnerability. Eastern North Caolina, particularly Hyde and Dare counties, is low lying and extensive, averaging only about 3 feet above sea level. Our area is prone to tropical systems and known for powerful nor’easters. Sea levels have increased by one foot in the last 70 years and will increase by another one foot by 2050. This leads to more flooding from the sounds and ocean, and less infiltration of water into the soil with a rising water table. Shorelines also continue to erode on both sides of our islands, slowly narrowing our landscape over time.
This isn’t meant to be a gloom and doom message, rather to illustrate the need to recognize the challenges we face, embrace the science and predicted change, and work across our communities to begin prioritizing practical solutions.
It’s an opportunity to think about how we can make small changes in our everyday lives that can make a real difference on a changing planet. As a start, consider your carbon footprint, growth of renewable energy along the coast (electricity and transportation make up more than 50% of CO2 emissions in the U.S.), and updating building codes that could create more resilience and energy efficiency.
It is a call to action to begin engaging your neighbors and community leaders in conversations focused on the future of the Outer Banks that incorporate the changes that are happening today and continuing into the future. It is a request to take the opportunity to talk with researchers and get involved in projects across your community aimed at developing new strategies to create a more resilient coast.
Your voice is important. Your experience is valuable. Your participation is essential because if every community thinks about this and does something, it will make a difference.
Information about the changing coast can be found online at C-CoAST (https://c-coast.org/) and the recent start of the Ocracoke Adaptation Study (https://c-coast.org/ocracoke-adaptation-study/).
