Standing on a beach on the Albemarle Peninsula in North Carolina, Brian Boutin, a Nature Conservancy biologist, points to a rusted piece of rebar with a green tag a few inches from the water’s edge. “That was our original marker to show what was happening here three years ago,” he says. “It was 20 meters from the shoreline. Now, it is the shoreline.” To the south, waves hit the shore and explode into the air, little eruptions of erosion. To the north, the waves break, but more gently. Offshore, Boutin and his Nature Conservancy colleagues have built 500 feet of reefs designed to ... Read More
Cliff-Top Living in Northern Baja
May 7, 2010 • By • 1 Comment
Along this part of the voyage, I am discovering how climate change might affect homes and businesses built helter-skelter on a seaside cliff. Location: at an Internet café in the Valle de Guadalupe, 20 miles inland from the coast, with vineyards and olive groves lining the hills. Conditions: Clear skies, 3 p.m. It is warmer inland in the valley, but the breeze keeps the temperature cool. Discussion: After our brief encounter with “hyena-like” road criminals, we had a pleasant night at the cliff-top camping of K-58, one of the last spots before the old Mexico Highway 1 veers ... Read More
