Climate Change Hits Home

Along the Outer Banks, a one-meter rise in the Atlantic is all but certain by 2100.

Crews work to repair man-made sand dunes on along NC 12 on Pea Island in the Outer Banks, NC. Photo: Greg Kahn.

Sand piles up along homes on Seagull St. in Rodanthe, NC. A recent Nor'easter brought 16-foot waves, flooding roads and leaving several feet of sand to dig out from. According to Dr. Stanley Riggs, this area is the fastest eroding on the Outer Banks. Photo: Greg Kahn

Brian Winnett, left, hauls in a blue fish near a stretch of condemned homes on the beach in Nags Head to fish on the Outer Banks, NC. Photo: Greg Kahn

Dr. Stanley Riggs of Eastern Carolina University, has been studying the Outer Banks of North Carolina for many years, often battling locals and government officials on how to protect the islands from further damage. Photo: Greg Kahn

Flooding remains days after a storm on N Tower Circle in Buxton, NC. Photo: Greg Kahn

Stephanie O'Neal, works at the Sea Sound Motel in Rodanthe on the Outer Banks, NC. Photo: Greg Kahn

Dr. Reide Corbett, Coastal Processes Interim Co Program Head at UNC Coastal Studies Institute lives and works on the Outer Banks. Photo: Greg Kahn

Fidel Sanchez dumps a wheelbarrel full of sand onto a growing pile as he and other workers try to clear out the Cape Hatteras Motel in Hatteras, NC. The motel, located on the beach, not only had several feet of sand in the stairwells, but in the parking lot behind the building. Photo: Greg Kahn

Ernie Foster, who lives in Hatteras, runs the Albatross Fleet, a deep-sea fishing business on the Outer Banks. Foster's family can be traced back several generations in Hatteras. Photo: Greg Kahn

Grave markers at the Salvo Campground Cemetery in Salvo, NC, are slowly making their way into the Pamlico Sound. Photo: Greg Kahn

Related Features

Where Do Hummingbirds Go in the Winter?

Where Do Hummingbirds Go in the Winter?

News

Our Favorite Fascinating Bird Behaviors From the 2024 Audubon Photo Awards

Our Favorite Fascinating Bird Behaviors From the 2024 Audubon Photo Awards

Audubon Photography Awards

Titmice Galore and a Red-tailed Record: Tallying Central Park's 125th Christmas Bird Count

A group of people with winter coats and binoculars in an urban park, looking up.

Titmice Galore and a Red-tailed Record: Tallying Central Park's 125th Christmas Bird Count

News

Terror Birds, Giga-Geese, and the Oldest Birds of Prey? 2024’s Fascinating Avian Fossil Finds

Terror Birds, Giga-Geese, and the Oldest Birds of Prey? 2024’s Fascinating Avian Fossil Finds

News

Explore More Photography

Beach Birds

Black Skimmer

Beach Birds

Slideshow

Midway: Message from the Gyre

Midway: Message from the Gyre

6 Award-Winning Aerials

6 Award-Winning Aerials

News

Staring Contest

Staring Contest

Photography

Get Audubon in Your Inbox

Let us send you the latest in bird and conservation news.