Lauren Owens Lambert
The Groundtruth Project
Photography by: Lauren .O. Lambert
With the rise of sea levels and storm surges strong enough to drown out major metropolitan areas and drive out half of the global population that now lives close to the water, climate change is causing serious damage to communities across New England. Sea levels are rising at an alarming rate, with projections for some coastal cities as high as 7-10 feet by the end of the century. In a politically unstable time people are taking to the streets in protest on behalf of science and the environment and are faced with the dilemma of fight or flight.
City officials and developers are implementing climate change mitigation programs such as including a "living shoreline" which creates a natural buffer during storms as well as reinforcing out of date seawalls, raising homes some 17-20 feet in the air and constructing large rock mounds to break up wave distribution. Through Boston's Climate Action Plan the city is committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020 and be carbon neutral by 2050.
In the midst of crashing ocean waves, flooded basements and coastal erosion many residents are deciding to stay and adapt their homes and infrastructure, rather than relocate. With the implementation of new climate change regulations the Seaport District in Boston is currently under one of the largest building booms in recent history. “If you don’t want to risk losing your home don’t build on Plum Island,” says Verne Fisher, a resident for more than 20 years. “If you love this environment and the way of life you take the risk.”
The effects of climate change have been devastating for those Massachusetts towns and communities along the water’s edge, where intensifying storms and flooding have ruined both homes and livelihoods. But Boston and the surrounding areas are feeling the pressure and are not sitting idle. New construction and property values continue to rise alongside sea levels.