Climate change is an issue that affects or will affect every community in the world, with rising temperatures, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and disappearing islands. While everyone should be concerned, communities in and around the Chesapeake Bay should be especially concerned. While affluent countries like the United States are usually not thought of when you hear the words “climate refugee”, there may be some Americans displaced by climate change in the next 50 years. Few of these communities are more vulnerable than the one that calls Tangier Island home.
The outlook for Tangier Island is extremely bleak, with the cards stacked against them at every turn. Erosion, climate change, and a government that is unlikely to help them all spell out the end for the unfortunate souls on Tangier Island. The island that once held thousands has been slowly whittled down over centuries and what remains is a husk of its former self. The problem at hand will only continue getting worse, and while some solutions would stop the bleeding for a little while, there seems to be no plausible solution that would do any more than kick the can down the road.