Barrier islands aren’t designed to stay in place. They shift and move about as the oceans and storms pound them. As a result, manmade structures on barrier islands are always at risk of having to confront the surging waters and buffeting winds. At Cape Lookout National Seashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, not all structures survive those encounters.

With global travel curtailed during the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are finding comfort in planning future trips. But imagine that you finally arrive in Venice and the “floating city” is flooded. Would you stay anyway, walking through St. Mark’s Square on makeshift catwalks or elevated wooden passages – even if you couldn’t enter the Basilica or the Doge’s Palace? Or would you leave and hope to visit sometime in the future?

We often hear about the threats sea-level rise pose to human coastal infrastructure, but little seems to get out about how sea-level rise can impact wildlife. A new study from Florida State University casts a somber prediction for sea turtles, which already are facing long odds for survival.