North Carolina Outer Banks

North Carolina's Outer Banks - an example of a low-lying, densely populated coastline subject to relentless battering by Atlantic Ocean.

The North Carolina coastal zone consists of "about 325 miles of ocean shoreline along the front of a string of barrier islands broken by a series of 21 enduring inlets and a series of shorter lived inlets that open and close in response to......storms". (Stan Riggs, The Battle for North Carolina's Coast). It is a low-lying, geologically dynamic system where water and land interact.

This coastal zone has become highly developed during the past 50 -100 years. Tourism has become extremely important component of the local economy. Roads and bridges were built beginning in the early 1950s and the coastal communities grew as people responded to the accessibility of this beautiful shoreline. Various shoreline management practices such as building hard structures to prevent erosion of the sandy shoreline, and beach nourishment, have been used to try to hold the land in place. "All of these anthropogenic interventions interrupt the natural barrier island dynamics. In an environment driven by rising sea level and storm activity, the inevitable result is conflict between humans and the natural processes". Stan Riggs.

• Communities at Risk
• Outer Banks
• Bonner Bridge
• Site A
• Site B
• Site C
• Site D