Defending the shoreline

Figure 13. These hard structures have been built to protect the shoreline from erosion in a time of rising sea level. (Photograph by the author. More about the photograph)

Owners of property on both the peninsula and the barrier island are not pleased when rising sea level kills their trees and increases the likelihood that their land and buildings will be flooded during storms. There is a continuing controversy about whether shorefront property should be defended from erosion by constructing hard structures along it. North Carolina’s Coastal Area Management policy prohibits construction of hard structures along the beachfront, but allows them on estuarine shorelines along the sounds. An example of such structures along the Down East peninsula is shown in Figure 13. I leave it to you to judge whether such structures are a good or bad addition to the coastal landscape.

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