Virginia isn’t prepared for rising sea, study warns

Skip Stiles is the Executive Director of Wetlands Watch (WW), a Norfolk-based non-profit environmental organization. WW has completed an analysis of sea level rise in Virginia looking on the potential consequences for the state’s coastal ecosystem. With relative sea level rise in the range predicted by state and federal scientists – 1 ½ to 2 feet by 2107 – Virginia could lose between 50% and 80% of its remaining vegetated tidal wetlands unless mitigation efforts start soon. In addition, there will be serious negative consequences for other coastal ecosystems – dunes, shoreline buffers, mudflats, oyster reefs, and submerged aquatic vegetation.