Threat to Our Home

BY KATE GINGER '23, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Every student that has stepped foot on Bayside’s campus knows this: when you look out into Mobile Bay, the Spanish moss frames a picture of a Gulf sky meeting the serene waves. In the distance are miniature skyscrapers perched along a roaming skyline. On the Eastern Shore, Bayside’s pier extends off the coast, a place where students are immersed in the local marine life that inhabits the Mobile Bay estuary.

Within the next three decades, sea levels are expected to rise between one and two feet along the Gulf Coast. For context, one foot of vertical sea rise swallows around 100 feet of shoreline. The effects are far from inconsequential. The imminent sea rise will have almost immediate effects upon Bayside’s property. Along with diminishing our beach, the water will soak into the land, causing the surrounding area to sink, only speeding up the effects. According to a 2016 report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), sea levels along the Alabama coast could rise up to four feet in the next century, which would “[submerge] wetlands and dry land, [erode] beaches, and [exacerbate] coastal flooding. ” Additionally, SeaLevelRise.org, a group of environment and policy experts, explains, “Rising sea levels can disrupt coastal wetlands by drowning plant species [and] increasing salt levels in the soil and water. ” This endangers important

The sun rises on Bayside's bluff. [G. Montgomery]

ecosystems, threatens habitats, and leaves communities exposed to dangerous storm surge. ” The most biologically diverse estuary in the country and home of the fourth largest river system in the world, lower Alabama is suffering some of the most devastating losses as a result of global warming.

The 2011 Alabama Climate Report by the University of Alabama at Huntsville states that Atlantic hurricanes make landfall in Gulf Shores/Orange Beach and Mobile Bay “slightly more than once every decade. ” This places our location at an increased risk for “[M]oderate” (typically damaging) flooding, ” which “is expected to occur, on average, more than 10 times as often as it does today, and can be intensified by local factors, ” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

According to the National Climate Assessment, “Sea level rise, storm surge, and heavy downpours, ” conditions to which the Gulf Coast is especially prone, “are increasing damage to U.S. infrastructure including roads, buildings, and industrial facilities. ” Within the next century, our community and surrounding areas will inevitably face increased danger due to conditions brought upon by climate volatility.

To curb this imminent threat that the entire globe is facing, 192 countries and the European Union have signed the Kyoto Protocol, which targets the emission of the six most prevalent greenhouse gasses, and the Paris Agreement, which, according to UnitedNations.org, “aims to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below two degrees

Pelicans perch on wooden posts in Mobile Bay. [M. Covington]

Celsius above pre-industrial levels. ” Unfortunately, the Council on Foreign Relations cites experts who believe the Agreement is not enough, “[warning] that if this warming continues unabated, it could bring environmental catastrophe to much of the world, including staggering sea-level rise, record-breaking droughts and floods, and widespread species loss. ”

Those in a lower socioeconomic bracket will suffer the most drastic consequences, as they have a limited ability to cope with climate variability and extremes. As explained to Global Citizen by Christina Chan, director of the World Resource Institute’s Climate Resilience Practice, “The world’s poorest communities often live on the most fragile land, and they are often politically, socially, and economically marginalized, making them especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. ”

Though the impending effects of this crisis seem daunting, all hope is not lost. Environmental scientists are working to further understand the effects of climate change and, moreover, come to a solution. The UN High Level Climate Champions launched a “Race to Zero” in an effort to urge large corporations and industries to implement climateconscious systems. This plan to halve emissions by 2030 is fueled by galvanizing “breakthrough ambition, ” or attaining sufficient momentum to truly make a change.

While an individual's actions may seem meaningless in the midst of such a pervasive crisis, these small measures are more crucial than ever right now. The Guardian asks why have we continued to fail to act when “[T]he global scientific community has warned us for years about the present and future impacts of climate change linked to fossil fuel use. ” Because “human brains aren’t wired to respond easily to large, slow-moving threats, ” our response to climate change is not unsurprising though it has jeopardized the safety of our world.

On a personal level, people can make an effort to save energy in their homes, walk, bike, carpool or take public transportation, eat more vegetables, consider taking fewer flights, and throw away less food. A threat as daunting as global warming is certainly hard to fathom; however, its harmful effects will prevail over Alabama’s Gulf Coast if we do nothing to protect the place we call home.

Light streams through smoke from a shoot with the photography class. [F. Faulk]