When homeowners in Newport’s The Point neighborhood look to Narragansett Bay, they can see the water line encroaching, threatening their homes and livelihoods.
Yet some national leaders, including President Donald Trump, doubt the science behind climate change and diminish the immediacy of its impact on areas with rising sea levels.
As president-elect, he told the New York Times in a November 2016 interview he had an “open mind” to climate change, but added: “I’m not sure anybody is ever going to really know” if science has proven climate change is real. He’s also proposed cuts to coastal-research programs, including eliminating the Sea Grant Program.
This leaves small organizations such as Newport-based nonprofit Newport Restoration Foundation to carry on the fight locally, unsure of federal support going forward. The foundation wouldn’t be directly impacted by cuts in the federal programs, but many of its partners would be, says Kelsey Mullen, NRF coordinator for academic programs and special projects.
“It’s really dangerous when the federal government doesn’t recognize the nature of the threat,” she said. Locally, she’s also encountered hurdles, despite mounting evidence of the ecological dangers, trying to convince inland residents of the threat’s immediacy.
Keeping History Above Water, an NRF conference, was first held last spring to discuss Rhode Island-relevant climate change risks.
To continue educating the public, NRF also teamed up with graduate-level, adaptive-reuse students from Rhode Island School of Design to help residents better understand the impact of sea-level rise and different ways they can prevent damage.
RISD students based their research on five historic Bridge Street structures and, using augmented-reality software, looked at the impact of sea-level rise in the year 2100. FEMA predictions show 968 historic structures in Newport will be impacted by sea-level rise, including the five Bridge Street properties.
On May 26, the public is invited to the site to view findings, which include analysis of the neighborhood if no action is taken and interpretations of design intervention needed for the structures’ survival.
“No one homeowner, no one organization can solve this issue. The NRF is working to make this a commonplace conversation,” Mullen said.
A second iteration of Keeping History Above Water will be held in October in Annapolis, Md.
RISD professor of interior architecture Liliane Wong will give a presentation at the conference of her students’ work looking at Newport’s structures.
Mullen said hosting the conference at different locations across the U.S. will “flavor the conversation in a really productive way” because sea-level rise occurs on all coasts.
