Sea Level Rise and its impact on the Suncoast

Ancient ice is melting and our oceans are rising. That much we know. What we don’t know yet, precisely, is how much our seas will rise here on the Suncoast and when it will happen in our future. But fortunately, a younger generation is ready for the challenge.
Ringling College of Art and Design students Kayleigh Castle, Alyssa Concannon and Ruzica Ivanovic are worried about the future. A future in which their generation will have to deal with sea level rise……
There are other impacts as well. New College of Florida’s marine lab director says a sea wall won’t protect your property from even a modest rise in sea level. “Its not just what you see against your sea wall, its what you see under your sea wall, and in that sense, you’re going to have a push, a hydrological push of the sea water against the fresh water underneath that sea wall, so you’re going to see portions of your lawn that come up to the sea wall die because they have their roots in salt,” says New College of Florida Biology Professor and Marine Lab Director Sandra Gilchrist. She adds in the short term, trees along the coast may also die from salt water intrusion. According to Gilchrist, during times of drought, sea level rise will create a salt wedge of Gulf waters moving up the Myakka River and similar freshwater estuaries.