Climate Change Cause the End of Local Traditions and Economic Devastation

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Dear Editor:

I have been coming to Chincoteague since 1975. We bought a house there in 2012 and moved permanently there in 2017. In the years since our first visit, we have seen dynamic migration southward and westward of the Assateague Island shoreline. The power of the ocean is massive over time. Experts are saying sea level will rise one to two inches a year if climate change is not addressed. Do the math, think what a 4+ foot rise in sea level will mean for your grandchildren. Much of the Eastern Shore will be permanently under water or dramatically affected by regular high tides, let alone storms.

The waterman culture and traditions so wonderfully preserved and honored will all but disappear, as will the aquaculture now proliferating. The economic impact of this sea level rise will be drastic. Tourism and the associated dollars will shrink tremendously. Yet politicians who deny this science and the inevitable bad outcomes continue to get votes. Voters who really care about the long term future of the Shore need to think long and hard about the regional suicide being committed by those pols who refuse to deal with this.

Eleven months before the next election. Think about it and stay dry.

Richard Saunders, Chincoteague

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