Rising Oceans Are Rapidly Eroding the Vulnerable Shoreline of North Carolinas Outer Banks

RODANTHE, NC - DECEMBER 14: A porch chair looks to have been tilted by ocean waves at the South Shore Drive home of Cindy Doughty on the Atlantic Ocean shoreline of the Outer Banks of North Carolina on December 14, 2022, in Rodanthe, NC. The house is one of the streets six beachfront houses that will be moved away from the encroaching sea. Doughty has lived in the house full-time for the past two decades and has never seen the ocean claim as much of the beach as it has in the last two years. This small, barrier island community is experiencing one of the highest rates of erosion and sea level rise on the East Coast of the United States. In the past year, three houses in the community have collapsed into the ocean, and more than a dozen others risk the same fate. Dozens of beachfront homeowners are scrambling to have their houses moved as far as possible from the encroaching waters as local lawmakers resist pressure to pay for expensive beach renourishment in the area. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)