Climate change is an issue that affects or will affect everyone in the world, with rising temperatures and melting ice caps expected to raise the sea levels, and many beachfront communities will be history by 2100. While this is bad news for everyone, it is especially concerning for the communities around the Chesapeake Bay. Located on the eastern shore of Virginia and stretching into Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay is a melting pot of biodiversity, and humans have been living on its shores for centuries, with many major cities relying heavily on the Bay for much of its resources. Unfortunately, these communities are at risk of losing much of their livelihood due to changing climate and rising sea levels. While there are many communities that are in danger, few are being hit as hard as Tangier, a remote island off the coast of Virginia in the Chesapeake Bay.
Many environmental issues face Tangier, which has lost two thirds of its land mass since the year 18501. Much of this loss was originally from erosion, as this geological process had already been chipping away at Tangier’s land mass. However, this loss of land mass has been speeding up in the advent of climate change, as the overall sea level has rapidly begun to rise. This means that Tangier’s already dire situation has become even more so. Tangier is sinking faster, and it is predicted that between 2070 and 2106, the historic island will be completely uninhabitable2.
While this alone is cause for concern, rising sea level is not the only way that Tangier’s way of life is being threatened by climate change and other environmental issues. Tangier’s main economic draw, and main food source, the blue crab, has slowly dwindled in both size and numbers, due to many environmental factors. One such factor is overcrabbing the population, which has caused the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to impose heavy regulations on the crabbing industry3. Among these regulations are policies such as the requirement that crabbers get licensure for each piece of equipment they use for crabbing, making it illegal to crab in certain areas around Tangier (called sanctuaries), cutting holes (“Cull rings”) in the side of crab pots to let undersized crabs escape, limiting the number of pots a crabber can use on a crabbing trip, and last but certainly not least, a lockdown on crabbing licenses imposed in 19994. These regulations, as well as the (literally) shrinking crab population, left Tangier’s economy in need of diversification, which proved difficult in a tiny island in the middle of a vast bay.
With the future of the island looking dim, many are asking what could be done to save the historic stretch of land. While a sinking island may not seem like a simple issue to fix, this does not stop people from trying. One of the most popular solutions is a seawall, which would be put up around the island to stop or slow the effects of the sea level rise. While a seawall has been tried in the past to some success, some scientists suggest implementing breakwaters strategically placed to allow for construction of dunes to expand on the territory of the island5. This would reinforce the island against erosion. While these solutions can help, they are very costly, and questions will arise whether they will be worth it to implement6. With all these factors in mind, will Tangier survive?
Thesis Statement
While there are some actions that can be taken to delay the inevitable, Tangier Island is going to sink regardless of the actions its people take to save it.
- David Schulte, Karin Dridge, and Mark Hudgins, “Climate Change and the Evolution and Fate of the Tangier Islands of Chesapeake Bay, USA.” Nature.com, December 10, 2015, Accessed December 3, 2024. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep17890#citeas.. ↩︎
- Schulte, Dridge, Hudgins, “Climate Change and the Evolution and Fate of the Tangier Islands of Chesapeake Bay, USA.” ↩︎
- Earl Swift, “Tangierman’s Lament.” Essay, In The Tangierman’s Lament : And Other Tales of Virginia, 1st ed., 33, Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press, 2007. ↩︎
- Swift, “Tangierman’s Lament”, 33 ↩︎
- Schulte, Dridge, Hudgins, “Climate Change and the Evolution and Fate of the Tangier Islands of Chesapeake Bay, USA.” ↩︎
- Schulte, Dridge, Hudgins, “Climate Change and the Evolution and Fate of the Tangier Islands of Chesapeake Bay, USA.” ↩︎