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Things look a little better for now, but when the rain comes, the water will have nowhere to go. Ditches are brimming throughout the Outer Banks, and in Ocean Acres and Whispering Pines, the water has been rising into homes after heavy rain. And there has been a lot of heavy rain lately.
“If we had one house fall into the ocean,
it would be national news,” Michael Frasca told Kill Devil Hills commissioners Wednesday night in pleading for help to get the water out of the neighborhoods.
Unusually high amounts of rain in recent months have pushed the water table, normally 4 feet down, so high that is is now at the surface. Commissioner Bob Peele said that 12 inches of rain can raise the water table 2.5 feet. The topography of the area is a basin of sorts, and newer construction has covered vacant lots that once would collect the water.
Filed under: 1 | Tagged: flooding, OuterBanks Voice, rain | Leave a Comment »
MANTEO, N.C. — The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge near North Carolina’s coast will have a visitor center next year.
The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Va., reported that an almost $5 million contract has been awarded for the construction of a visitor center and headquarters at the refuge on Roanoke Island along the Outer Banks. Construction is scheduled to be finished within 18 months.
Deputy refuge manager Scott Lanier says the visitor center will help the refuge provide information to the public. He says there’s little to tell people about the 154,000-acre refuge now other than a few signs and kiosks off U.S. 64.. The refuge was established in 1984 and straddles mainland Dare and Hyde counties. It attracts about 45,000 visitors annually. It’s home to large populations of bear, red wolves, raptors and, birds.
According to a 2008 report, The proposed visitor center will serve as a gateway, not only for adventure into Alligator River
Refuge, but also to encourage the many visitors to the Outer Banks to venture inland to other local national wildlife refuges. There will be a growing responsibility to reach out to local and national communities about the refuge’s importance as a valuable piece of the puzzle that connects all wildlife habitats together. This reports also offers a wealth of information about wildlife in the area.
Filed under: Conservation | Tagged: alligator river, Conservation, refuge, wild life | Leave a Comment »
A Blog about Corolla Wild Horses. AlsoThe Horse of the Americas registry says they are Colonial Spanish Mustangs eligible for registration papers. DNA testing supports it – once in 1992 and again in 2008. And now, we are “this close” to the resilient, powerful, intelligent, and athletic horses that grace our northern beaches and Shackleford Banks taking their rightful place as a North Carolina state symbol – our state horse.
On January 22nd, nearly a thousand letters were presented to Representative Bill Owens during a very special event at Shawboro Elementary School. Students from Currituck, Dare, and Carteret Counties asked their state legislators to support their request to designate the Colonial Spanish Mustang as the North Carolina state horse.
In addition to Representative Owens, attendees included Representative Tim Spear; Secretary Dee Freeman (NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources); Katie Hall (for Senator Marc Basnight); Steve Windham, Chairman of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission; Betty Jo Shepheard (for United State Senator Richard Burr); Carolyn Mason and Anita Kimball, President and Vice President of the Foundation for Shackleford Horses; CWHF staff and Board President, Kimberlee Hoey; Currituck County Commissioners and members of the Board of Education. Governor Bev Perdue supports the effort and letters from the Governor, Lt. Governor, and United States Congressman Walter Jones will be read.
In March of this year, as part of their state mandated writing assessment, the entire fourth grade in the Currituck County School District participated in an effort to designate the state’s two historic wild herds of Colonial Spanish Mustangs as the North Carolina State Horse. Students in fourth and second grade as well as kindergarten took part in an educational program presented by the Corolla Wild Horse Fund that also included a rescued and once wild horse on site. They conducted research on other state symbols, studied North Carolina and local history, and wrote individual letters based on what they had learned. The program then expanded to include additional grades in Currituck, Dare and Carteret counties.
In her letter of support, NC Governor Bev Perdue wrote, “They have graced our shores for generations, bringing visitors from across our state and beyond, to North Carolina’s outer banks to witness this marvel. We are privileged to have these horses as part of our heritage . . . Long after they arrived in the 16th century, they continue to thrive and inspire writers young and old with their tale of survival.”
We are thrilled beyond description at the prospect of North Carolina becoming the tenth state to have a designated horse – but most of all – that it is the Colonial Spanish Mustang. House Bill 1251 is scheduled to be presented in May.
Whether they are wild or domestic, this is a noble breed on the brink of extinction. Recognition as our state horse will be the lifesaver that they so richly deserve.
Filed under: Wildlife | Tagged: corolla, Wild and Free Weekly, wild horses | Leave a Comment »
Three new projects in the Currituck northern Outer Banks could attract more people to the habitat of the wild horses that are already trying to avoid the crowds. Residents have repeatedly fought off commercial projects and road improvements in the remote communities, preferring fewer services and harder travel in exchange for quiet living.
Wild horses are one of the main attractions on the Currituck Outer Banks. Shops in Corolla sell T-shirts, caps, photographs and books about the herd. A small group of horses on the beach can attract hundreds of people. Some ignore or are unaware of a rule to stay 50 feet away as they to touch their noses or get close for photographs.
The herd of about 110 horses typically roams in smaller groups throughout the 12,000-acre area, including in yards. Lately, the horses are spending more time in the maritime forest area on the sound side away from people, said Karen McCalpin, director of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. “We have seen that they are staying more in the back,” she said.
Tourists have been coming in larger numbers and for longer in the season, said Richard Bell, a resident of the four-wheel-drive area and a volunteer with the Horse Fund. “It is just really overpopulating the area,” he said.
Residents generally support plans to straighten and level three to four miles of Ocean Pearl Road in Carova Beach. Work is set to begin in March. Paid for with county occupancy taxes, the $300,000 project would be the first major improvement in decades to the sandy roads riddled with pond-size potholes.
Ocean Pearl Road serves as an artery for emergency and construction vehicles and is the address for many high-end beach rentals. Wild horses often graze along the side of the road. Even though it will remain unpaved, a better road could bring more sightseers at higher speeds. “It’s a concern,” McCalpin said. “It’s all about personal responsibility.” The speed limit is 15 mph when people are within 300 feet, said Kimberlee Hoey, president of the Board of Directors for the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. “I’m confident the Sheriff’s Office will enforce it,” she said.
South of Carova, a 13,000-square-foot beach house with 23 bedrooms and 23 baths on 20 acres of oceanfront property is ready for rent this year. Open for large events, family reunions and weddings, the house is called Wild Horse, according to an online advertisement by Twiddy & Co. Realtors. Not far from the beach mansion in Swan Beach, a developer proposes a commercial district of 31.71 acres that would include an inn, shops, restaurants and residential units. Also in the same plans is another small commercial area of 5.86 acres that would include a fishing pier to the ocean and a bait shop. Original plats done in 1969 set aside these tracts for commercial use. County zoning calls it residential. The commission turned down an application for a similar project on the same tract in November 2008 after residents protested.
This time, Bissell Professional Group [Founded in 1972, Bissell Professional Group (BPG, Inc.) and its predecessor firm have been providing engineering consulting services to both government and private sector clients. In thirty seven plus years of consulting, BPG has played a major role in real estate development and other civil design projects spanning a multitude of project types] is asking for rezoning that specifically names what will be built there, said Ben Woody, director of the Currituck County Planning Department. Typically, rezoning allows for a range of projects, which can make locals more wary, he said. The project is to go before the Currituck County planning board in February and to the Board of Commissioners in March.
Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com
Filed under: Wildlife | Tagged: corolla, currituck, wildhorses | Leave a Comment »
For those who want to know more about Sea Rise, follow the March Meeting of the geological Society of America |
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Northeastern Section (45th Annual) and Southeastern Section (59th Annual) Joint Meeting (13-16 March 2010)
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THE SEA ALSO RISES |
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| PILKEY, Orrin H., Earth and Ocean Sciences, Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment, P.O. Box 90228, Durham, NC 27708, opilkey@duke.edu and YOUNG, Rob, Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, Western Carolina University, Belk 207, Cullowhee, NC 28723A number of state and local science panels have predicted that the global sea level will rise by 1 to 2 m by 2100. The behavior of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets in the last decade would indicate that a 1 m sea level rise should be viewed as minimal. Adding to the problem is the first recognition (in 2009) of a significant contribution of meltwater from the East Antarctic ice sheet. The dire predictions seem to have had little impact on coastal zone management so far, perhaps because they are not recognized as dire and the ramifications are not widely understood. In fact, the ramifications have not been laid out for the public as yet, a public that in significant part is not convinced that global warming is even occurring.
A one meter sea level rise will end barrier island development along America’s 5600 km long barrier island shoreline – the longest in the world. At the new sea level, shoreline erosion will be unstoppable except by construction of seawalls that must completely surround the islands. At the same time that the barrier islands are facing their crisis, the cities will also be in trouble, and it is likely that preservation of Miami, Manhattan and Boston will trump funding for barrier island communities. The time for societal action is now because building practices and infrastructure emplacement today will have an impact on the sea level response of tomorrow. The single most important response would be prohibition of high-rise buildings near the shoreline. On barrier islands this response must be flexible if the islands are to survive. Creative and even unthinkable approaches are needed, including perhaps artificial migration of heavily developed islands and eventual wholesale destruction of buildings along densely populated shorelines like those on the Florida Peninsula. It is important for coastal geologists to get involved in this public debate because no one else understands what a 1 m sea level rise will do on a barrier island shoreline! |
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HOLOCENE GEOLOGIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE CAPE HATTERAS REGION, OUTER BANKS, NORTH CAROLINAMCDOWELL, Katie1, MALLINSON, David2, CULVER, Stephen2, and WALSH, J.P.3, (1) Department of Geosciences and NRM, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723, kmcdowell@wcu.edu, (2) Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, (3) Geology, Greenville, NC 27858The late Holocene evolution of the Hatteras Flats and Buxton beach ridges was reconstructed using sedimentological, micropaleontological, geophysical and chronostratigraphic data. Sixteen vibracores were collected from the Hatteras Flats and seven geoprobe cores were collected from the Buxton beach ridges. Geophysical data (ground penetrating radar and seismic surveys) were obtained throughout the study area to aid in paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Using ten lithofacies, five foraminiferal biofacies and geophysical data, five environmental facies were distinguished: low salinity estuary, high salinity estuary, normal marine salinity/flood tidal delta/submarine shoal, normal marine salinity/flood tidal delta/beachface and barrier island sand. Thick sequences of normal marine salinity deposits comprised of foraminiferal species such as Hanzawaia strattoni, Quinqueloculina seminula and Eponides repandus were present in all sixteen vibracores between 1.5 and 8.5 m below MSL. These data indicate that normal marine salinity conditions occurred over the Hatteras Flats in the study area approximately 1,100 yrs BP. Five optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates within normal marine salinity units gave age estimates ranging from 1,420 to 1,060 yrs BP, corresponding with a previously documented barrier island collapse in the southern Outer Banks. Hatteras Island was likely reduced in size by erosion of the beach ridges and the creation of large gaps in the barrier islands between Buxton and Hatteras Village and between Buxton and Avon. These conditions resulted in open bay environments on the Hatteras Flats. An OSL age estimate of 675 ± 180 yrs BP within this normal marine salinity unit indicates that marine water influenced the central Hatteras Flats for several hundred years. By 500 yrs BP, it is likely that the simple barrier islands near Cape Hatteras had reformed, returning estuarine conditions to the Hatteras Flats. An OSL age estimate indicates that an inlet was present between Cape Hatteras and Avon 375 ± 60 yrs BP. GEOMORPHIC LINKAGES BETWEEN TRANSGRESSING SIMPLE BARRIER ISLANDS AND BACK-BARRIER FLATS IN RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE, NORTH CAROLINA OUTER BANKSRIGGS, Stanley R., AMES, Dorothea V., MALLINSON, David J., CULVER, Stephen J., and PARHAM, Peter R., Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, riggss@ecu.eduBarrier island segments within North Carolina’s Outer Banks are divided into two geomorphic types: simple and complex based upon the sediment supply, physical dynamics, and evolutionary history of the islands. Simple island segments are sediment poor resulting in low and narrow barriers dominated by storm-driven interaction between inlet flood-tide deltas (FTDs) and over-wash ramps (OWRs). About 75% of the 280 km-long Outer Banks are simple barrier islands with all geomorphic elements having formed within the last 500 years. Sediment-rich complex barrier islands are high and wide due to substantial sediment input during their evolutionary history. They are characterized by a modern beach that has welded onto an older barrier island segment. The older segments are dominated by multiple sets of beach ridges and back-barrier dune fields that date from about 3,000 years ago to the present. Since most complex islands have little potential for the formation of inlets and/or oceanic overwash, salt influence is minimized allowing for development of extensive maritime forests. The dominance of transgressive simple barrier islands on the Outer Banks has resulted in the deposition of a broad (1.5 to 8 km wide) and shallow (<1 m deep) back-barrier shoal system known as Hatteras Flats. This shoal system consists of submerged paleo-FTDs and associated tidal channels that are being buried along the barrier island side by OWRs of the transgressing islands. OWR-dominated barrier islands slope from the island berm downward to the back-barrier estuarine shoreline. Lower portions of the OWR grade from the supra-tidal zone dominated by microbial mats and/or interior marshes, to the inter-tidal zone dominated by salt marshes. The shore-parallel, back-barrier platform marshes are split by tidal channels to form the classic molar-tooth structures. The back-barrier platform marshes transition into the Hatteras Flats where the sub-tidal estuarine zone is bound by microbial mats and the shallow submarine estuarine zone is dominated by submerged aquatic vegetation. Thus, the FTD-dominated Hatteras Flats form a stabilized shallow base that is the future foundation upon which the sub-aerial portion of the barrier island will migrate onto as sea-level rise and ocean shoreline recession continues. |
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Filed under: Climate Change Effects, Sea Level Rise | Tagged: Barrier Islands, Geological Society, pilkey, riggs, sea rise | Leave a Comment »
Preserving coastal cities will require huge public expenditures, leaving smaller coastal resort communities to fend for themselves. Manhattan, for example, is likely to beat out Nags Head, North Carolina for federal funds, a fact that recreational beach communities must recognize when planning a response to sea level rise.
Twelve percent of the world’s open ocean shorelines are fronted by barrier islands, and a three-foot sea level rise will spell doom for development on most of them — save for those completely surrounded by massive seawalls.
The next century of rising sea level need not be an economic disaster.
Impacts in the United States, with a 3,500-mile long barrier island shoreline extending from Montauk Point on Long Island to the Mexican border, will be huge. The only way to preserve the barrier islands themselves will be to abandon them so that they may respond naturally to rising sea level. Yet, most coastal states continue to allow massive, irresponsible development of the low-lying coast.
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On Shishmaref Island in Alaska, homes are being washed into the sea. In the South Pacific, small island nations face annihilation by encroaching waters. In coastal Louisiana, an area the size of a football field disappears every day. For these communities, sea level rise isn’t a distant, abstract fear: it’s happening now and it’s threatening their way of life.
In The Rising Sea, Orrin H. Pilkey and Rob Young warn that many other coastal areas may be close behind. Prominent scientists predict that the oceans may rise by as much as seven feet in the next hundred years. That means coastal cities will be forced to construct dikes and seawalls or to move buildings, roads, pipelines, and railroads to avert inundation and destruction.
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by rob young and orrin pilkey
Filed under: Climate Change, Sea Level Rise | Tagged: sea rise, Yale | Leave a Comment »
Columbia University scientists have released a report showing the 2005-2007 southeastern U.S. drought was caused by natural weather events, not global warming.
“The drought was not caused by anthropogenic climate change but by natural variability of the atmosphere-ocean system,” said lead author Richard Seager, a climate scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, in an interview for this story.
Drought Not Unusual
The study, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Climate, shows southeastern droughts of similar severity have occurred before, as recently as 1998-2002. Tree-ring records show much more severe droughts have occurred in the Southeast in past centuries.
“The post 2005 drought was no more severe than earlier droughts, including the 1998 to 2002 drought,” the study concluded.
The states most affected by the recent drought were Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and portions of Florida and South Carolina. It pitted states against one another in battles over water access, with Northern Georgia’s Lake Lanier a prime example.
In autumn 2007, Georgia officials threatened to sue the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, claiming too much water was being released from Lanier for the benefit of Florida wildlife. Soon thereafter, however, the drought abated and Lake Lanier water levels began a long, steady recovery.
Alarmists’ Claims Refuted
Global warming activists had been quick to blame the drought on global warming. The Center for American Progress (CAP), for example, posted an article on its Web site highlighting United Nations’ predictions of future droughts caused by global warming.
“Recent droughts in the southern portion of the United States suggest that this prediction is already coming true,” CAP claimed.
The Columbia University scientists used precipitation calculations, sea surface temperature records, tree-ring records, and climate change projections of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in determining the droughts were not caused by global warming.
“Tree ring records show that much longer droughts of equal severity in any one year have occurred in the southeast and that the twentieth century appears to have been unusually wet by the standard of the last one thousand years,” the study reported.
No Future Droughts Indicated
Even with a growing population in the Southeast, improving water-use efficiency has helped prevent increased strain on regional water resources, Seager notes.
“Statistics show that even as population has grown in Georgia, the water use per capita has dropped so that the total water consumption by people has been pretty stable over the last decade,” Seager said.
R. Seager, “Drought in the Southeastern United States: Causes, Variability over the Last Millennium, and the Potential for Future Hydroclimate Change,” Journal of Climate, October 1, 2009: http://www.heartland.org/environmentandclimate-news.org/article/26702/
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Most North Carolinians are probably aware certain items don’t go in the household trash. Tires, old appliances, and motor oil are specifically banned from landfills in the state, and others such as car batteries carry disposal fees at the point of purchase.
Starting October 1, though, the General Assembly made it illegal to throw a plastic milk jug or an empty ketchup bottle in the garbage, too.
While the law’s penalties are vague and directed at the companies and municipalities that actually take trash to the landfill, the new rule expects every citizen to separate certain classes of plastic containers from their household trash and redirect them to recycling programs, even if local authorities don’t offer such a program or the program is distant or inconvenient.
Reluctant to Recycle
According to the state’s Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance (DPPEA), an agency of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, only 20 percent of plastic bottles are being recycled, “despite [the state] hosting some of the largest processors of these materials.”
Scott Mouw, the environmental supervisor for DPPEA, said in a press release, “Widespread compliance with the plastic bottle disposal ban will ensure a flow of plastic bottles to meet market demand for the materials and will result in additional job creation through the expansion of recycling collection companies.” He called the ban “a major growth opportunity for the state’s recycling businesses and for local government recycling collection programs as well.”
Lack of Convenience
The plastic bottle ban was an amendment to existing landfill restrictions, passing the General Assembly by near-unanimous votes before being signed into law.
Although the law took effect in October, it has been on the books since 2005. The statute contains other restrictions on discarded televisions and computer equipment that take effect in 2011, stemming from a different bill.
Some North Carolina counties and cities have extensive recycling programs, including curbside pickup and city-supplied recycling bins provided to residents.
The town of Smithfield, for instance, recently resumed curbside service, which had been cancelled several years ago. Until recently, residents who wanted to recycle took their materials to a truck parked at the town’s complex near the water treatment plant. Convenience centers, including one in a business district along U.S. Highway 301 in Smithfield, are reserved for county residents with proper stickers.
Citizens Express Frustration
Other areas don’t offer comparable convenience, and while some homeowners are enthusiastic about the new law, others express frustration at the effort required to comply.
Jen Froio in Granville County said she recycles as a matter of conscience, “but I absolutely despise it!” Her town does not offer curbside pickup, she said, and the collection center is “teeming with flies” and does not accept mixed recyclables, forcing her to sort her garbage or find another drop-off point.
“I have found a recycling center in another county that does accept commingled recyclables,” Froio said. “I drive there every other month or so, wasting about two gallons of gas in my effort to preserve the environment. Ironic? I think so.”
Others shared similar stories. Elayne Humphrey moved from Cary to north Fayetteville five years ago and found recycling required a 20-minute drive to the downtown collection center. When gas prices peaked, she decided it was too expensive to continue.
Impact Unpredictable
Lowell Shaw oversees the recycling programs in Wake County from his position as solid waste facilities manager. Wake has 11 convenience centers scattered around the county and open to all–but only–Wake residents. He said it’s too soon to tell the impact of the new bottle ban.
“To be honest, this is still relatively new,” Shaw said. “It took effect in October, so there’s no data yet to see if there’s a difference in volume. The infrastructure is there to handle it, though, and we definitely do want them to recycle their bottles.”
Filed under: Counter Arguments, living green | Tagged: heartland, plastic bottles | Leave a Comment »
Hatteras Island seafood dealer Jeff Aiken is climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise awareness for Commercial Fishermen of America. Check back here for updates on his quest and track his progress on the map. (Zoom in and look for the green hikers icon – Jeff starts his climb on January 24 and should reach the summit on January 29.)
Filed under: Local Organizations and Blogs, Wildlife | Tagged: aiken, seafood, Wildlife | Leave a Comment »
Sandbars swirl beneath Oregon Inlet in Cape Hatteras National Seashore on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. Waves driven by ocean winds can cause the sandbars here to shift and change literally by the hour, making conditions hazardous for boats.
Harvey has photographed more than 40 articles for National Geographic, beginning with a story about Tangier Island, Virginia, in the November 1973 issue of the magazine. He has since covered a wide range of subjects, including hip-hop music, Vietnam, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Tokyo, Grenada, Malaysia, the Puget Sound, the Maya, stock car racing, and Barcelona.
In 1978, Harvey was named Magazine Photographer of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). He has lectured and led seminars at various universities and has conducted many workshops, including the Santa Fe Workshop, the Annual Photographic Seminar in Steamboat Springs, the Eddie Adams Workshop, the Missouri Workshop, and the Maine Photographic Workshop.
Harvey’s work has been exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Nikon Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. His photographs have appeared in Life, The New York Times, and Sports Illustrated. He has published two books, Cuba and Divided Soul.
You can see more of his recent , more somber work at http://www.burnmagazine.org/
Filed under: 1 | Tagged: Harvey, Oregon Inlet, sandbars | Leave a Comment »
