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Communities at Risk

March 22, 2014

The shore of Buzzards Bay just north of Woods Hole illustrates at least one of the problems that many coastal communities will face in the future as sea level rises: development in potential flood zones. As seas rise, shorelines will change and erode. This will not only flood homes and damage property, but it will also significantly change coastal ecosystems, many of which provide natural buffers against waves and periodic storm surges. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)