High Tides and Higher Hopes: Tybee Island, GA’s approach to Sea Level Rise
Warning: Undefined array key "file" in /home/conferen/public_html/WGLC2021/wp-includes/media.php on line 1734
Warning: Undefined array key "file" in /home/conferen/public_html/WGLC2021/wp-includes/media.php on line 1734
Warning: Undefined array key "file" in /home/conferen/public_html/WGLC2021/wp-includes/media.php on line 1734
Warning: Undefined array key "file" in /home/conferen/public_html/WGLC2021/wp-includes/media.php on line 1734
JLP Prince
Agnes Scott College, jprince@agnesscott.edu
Director of Community, Civic, and Global Engagement
MS in Data Analysis and Communications (completed August ‘21)
As the sun rises over the Atlantic on a calm, cloud-free day, it is hard to think of Tybee Island as anything other than a paradise. At the Tybee Island Pier and Pavilion, the waves rhythmically lap against the pylons. Early morning fisherman cast their poles and chat with one another about their catches, fighting any seagulls who attempt to procure their fish. This coastal community of just over three thousand individuals sits at the mouth of the Savannah River near Georgia’s border with South Carolina. Part of Georgia’s string of barrier islands along the Atlantic coast, Tybee Island is Georgia’s easternmost point. But there is a danger the island faces, lurking in the minds of residents. The sea level is rising.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), global sea levels have risen almost three inches in the last 25 years and the pace of rise is accelerating. Climate change causes sea level rise through three primary means: melting of glaciers and ice sheets, expanding ocean volume due to warmer waters, and declining water on land in aquifers, lakes, rivers, and soil moisture. For Tybee Island, the situation is even direr. As a low-lying barrier island, it already experiences widespread and frequent flooding. In 2015, US Highway 80, the only way onto the island, flooded twenty-three times due to high tides.
