Raleigh News and Observer
Fourteen of the 17 beaches from Brunswick County to Carteret County could be eroded away by 2080, leaving beachgoers no place to plant their umbrellas and translating into a loss of $3.9 billion, researchers reported Wednesday.

For the first time, researchers have put a dollar estimate on lost tourism, recreation and property damage in North Carolina from the projected impact of climate change. The bipartisan National Commission on Energy Policy funded the study.

Economists at three North Carolina universities and Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany said the study showed that as climate change causes submersion of coastal areas and increased erosion, North Carolina will endure billions of dollars in property damage, lost tourism and disruption to coastal businesses. Scientists predict that the buildup of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere will lead to higher global temperatures, though the rate and extent of change remains a topic of debate. A panel of international scientists projects that polar ice will melt, resulting in seas rising 7 to 30 inches by 2100.

More than 2,000 square miles of Eastern North Carolina is no more than 3 feet above sea level, putting it at risk of being submerged, the researchers said.

“Even a relatively small rise — a 1-foot rise — will have a long reach into the interior of North Carolina,” said John Whitehead, an economist at Appalachian State University and co-author of the study. “That will affect a lot of property.” Read full story