(Salem News file photo)

North Shore communities, in particular, are losing coastline to erosion from rising seas and storm surges.

 

From the Salem News, Thursday, December 17, 2015
By Christian M. Wade Statehouse Reporter
BOSTON —
In Essex County, more than $100 billion is at risk…
New England coastal waters are rising at an annual rate three to four times faster than the global average, according to the state Office of Coastal Zone Management, which attributes the trend largely to climate change exacerbated by human activity…
Many communities are already feeling the impact. Plum Island — which bears the brunt of erosion in the North Shore — has lost about 100 feet of beach to the sea in the last 20 years, the report says. The problem has been exacerbated by recent storms that have destroyed homes, though local officials suggest that the sand isn’t eroding but shifting to other areas…
In Ipswich, Crane Beach loses about 4.6 feet a year, while Swampscott’s Phillips Beach loses 2 feet a year, according to the report…
     In Essex County…only 46 percent of the region’s 150 miles of coastline is protected with man-made barriers.
Read the article.