Coastal Erosion in New England

Over the last 150 years, there has been a 68% erosion of beaches within the Mid Atlantic and New England regions. Recently, Nor’Easters, hurricanes, and other coastal storms have increased in frequency and size. When large storms hit, parts of the beaches are swept away. Beaches in the Mid-Atlantic and New England are eroding about 1.6 feet per year. The worst case was found in southern Virginia where the coast eroded about 60 feet per year. These alarming rates have inspired some towns to take their own initiative.

Many coastal towns have started bringing new sand to their beaches in order to reconstruct the damage. Beach restorations are slowing erosion, on a minor scale. Recent studies have shown that these efforts have dropped the percentage of beach erosion from 68% to 60%. In New Jersey researches found that houses crammed agast beaches have also slowed erosion. All of these restoration efforts cost thousands of dollars and only offer a short-term improvement. Major storms will continue to strengthen and sea levels will continue to rise making it hard to stop or slow the erosion.

Sea level rise is also a huge problem when it comes to beach erosion. The sea level is projected to rise 3 feet, by the end of the century. If the sea level continues to rise at a rapid rate most of the coast will be underwater in the near future. More than 90 coastal communities are already battling repeated flooding. In less than 20 years, that number is expected to roughly double to more than 170 communities. As the sea level continues to rise and the coastal storms continue to strengthen many communities, in New England and the Mid-Atlantic, will need to evacuate because of erosion and flooding.