“A community that is more informed and prepared will have a greater opportunity to rebound quickly from weather and climate-related events, including adapting to sea level rise. The ability to rebound more quickly can reduce negative human health, environmental, and economic impacts.” -NOAA
Ecological Restoration of Cape Ann’s Coastlines, Forest, and Downtowns
This project is a collaborative effort of the four municipalities of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Gloucester, Rockport, and Essex,. the non-profits TownGreen and the Water Alliance, the Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design’s Office for Urbanization. For more detail on the project and examples of ecological restoration from elsewhere, please see this HANDOUT from a Public Forum held on June 1st, 2023.
Sea Level Rise
Sea level has risen 8 inches since 1950. Its speed of rise has accelerated over the last ten years and it’s now rising by about 1 inch every 8 years, and an increase in the rate of sea level rise is expected to rise as time goes on. Sea level rise is caused by climate change due to: thermal expansion (the water is warming and as it warms it expands), and increased melting of glaciers and ice sheets. This will cause higher high tides and deadlier storm surge.
Our sea level rise mural on Gloucester Harbor
The Community Building and Education Action Group of the Cape Ann Climate Coalition (CACC) installed a sea level mural on one of Ocean Alliance’s buildings, ‘the Old Paint Factory’, on Gloucester Harbor to raise awareness about sea level rise and to spur climate action. It was designed by Jim Seavey, an artist and member of the CACC. This mural is highly visible and seen best from the Ocean Alliance dock or from a boat where it is estimated that a quarter of a million people a year pass by on boats. The data used for the mural is from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Climate Central. It shows predicted sea level rise for the next 80 years. The mean high tide (regular high tide) is painted green, peak high tide (king tides) in blue, and storm surge in red. The greatest threat to life and property in major coastal storms comes from water in the form of storm surge. And from what the scientists are predicting, it is time to prepare! We thank Ocean Alliance for letting us place the mural on their building.
Sea Level Rise Mural on the Old Paint Factory Building in Gloucester Harbor
The story of the sea level rise mural at Ocean Alliance in Gloucester Harbor erected by the Cape Ann Climate Coalition. The artist, an astrophysicist, whale/ocean researcher, climate activist, and high school student weigh in on sea level rise, coastal resilience, and climate change.
Cape Ann Climate Coalition is advocating for measures to make Cape Ann more resilient to extreme weather events, this includes lobbying for sustainability directors for our municipalities; supporting climate resilience design plans; zoning codes to protect our natural barriers; armoring our infrastructure; and restoring/protecting our marshes and other natural systems that buffer storm surge.
The NOAA Digital Coast Website
An interactive website showing sea level rise. Two feet of sea level rise with two feet of storm surge looks like four feet of sea level rise at the height of the storm. You can move around and zoom in and out. You can also change the sea level by moving the slide up and down on the left of the image.
“Powerful winds aren’t the only deadly force during a hurricane. The greatest threat to life actually comes from the water — in the form of storm surge. The surge is caused primarily by a storm’s winds pushing water onshore. The amplitude of the storm surge at any given location depends on the orientation of the coast line with the storm track; the intensity, size, and speed of the storm.” -NOAA
This example illustrates water level differences for storm surge, storm tide, and a normal (predicted) high tide as compared to sea level. Storm surge is the rise in seawater level caused solely by a storm. Storm tide is the total observed seawater level during a storm, which is the combination of storm surge and normal high tide.– NOAA