As millions of Americans flock to the nation’s beaches, islands and national monuments this summer, experts are delivering a stark message: Climate change is rapidly reshaping some of the country’s most iconic tourist destinations.
Devastated tropical islands. Destroyed coastal homes. Flooded capital cities. The changes are happening before our eyes, at a rapid and frightening pace, with no signs of stopping, experts told USA Today.
Some of the most obvious and dramatic changes can be seen on busy coasts, where summer resorts will be at disproportionate risk from rising sea levels, where the natural rhythm of water meeting land will mean increasingly frequent flooding and erosion that eats away at roads, homes and businesses.
Here are some of the country’s famous tourist destinations that are undergoing changes due to global warming.
California’s Big Sur Coast Highway sinks into the ocean
One of California’s most scenic and best-known tourist attractions is the Big Sur Coast Highway, which runs along the cliff sides and offers breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean.
However, access is becoming increasingly difficult due to landslides, cliff collapses and rock falls caused by climate change.
“Winter storms are much more intense and last longer, bringing heavy rains and strong winds, which has resulted in a significant increase in the rate of landslide failures,” said Peter Swarzenski, interim director of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Pacific Coast Marine Science Center.
The road has been battling gravity since it was built in the 1930s, but now it’s taking on new levels of damage from increasingly violent winter storms and wildfires that lead to soil erosion exacerbated by climate change.
The end result has been hundreds of millions of dollars in damage and frequent road closures so severe that the California Department of Transportation maintains a website listing them.
Highway 1:California’s Pacific Coast Highway is falling into the ocean. Is this the end of the road?
A major storm on March 30 caused part of the road 12 miles south of Carmel to collapse into the sea, leaving only limited access for local residents and taking six weeks to reopen.
On June 23, a portion of the highway at Paul’s Slide finally reopened after being closed for a year and a half due to a massive landslide that dumped 500,000 cubic yards of dirt onto the roadway.
Such closures “used to happen every few years, but now they’re happening almost every year,” Swarzenski said.
Rising sea levels threaten coastal refuges on the Outer Banks
More than five million tourists flock to the sandy beaches of the barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina each year to visit lighthouses and soak up the sun, but it’s hard to miss the clear evidence that a warming climate is transforming the islands’ surroundings.
Flooding of low-lying coastal highways has always been a problem during storms, but it is occurring more frequently today.
The effects of rising sea levels and flooding from storm surges are not only visible along the coast, but also inland along the Albemarle Sound coast in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, where scrub freshwater marshes have been replaced by salt marshes. Ghost forests are dotted around the area as saltwater intrusion kills trees. Some local landmarks that once stood above ground are now submerged.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, storm surge flooding (also known as dry-weather flooding) is already twice as common along the Outer Banks as it was in 2000, and is expected to continue to increase.
The agency predicts that storm surge flooding will increase threefold by 2030 and tenfold by 2050.
This year has seen major projects along the coast to combat storm surges and maintain coastal highways. Roads have seen so much dune flooding and flood damage that the North Carolina Department of Transportation runs a Facebook page just to keep the public up to date on NC 12.
A new bridge opened in 2022 to allow drivers to bypass areas most prone to flooding.
Communities along the Outer Banks are grappling with tough questions, including adding sand to replace disappearing dunes and when to halt development in some coastal areas.
Washington DC’s historic landmark sinks
Some of Washington DC’s most iconic attractions are sinking.
At risk are treasured monuments such as the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, as well as the man-made Tidal Basin, surrounded by cherry blossom trees that are a symbol of international friendship. Experts say rising water levels, urbanization and subsidence (land sinking) are contributing to the problem.
Over the past century, sea levels in the region have risen more than 13 inches, and there are signs that the rise is accelerating. Currently, the Tidal Basin walkways are flooded at certain times of day, and at the Jefferson Memorial, the tops of the railings along the walkway are underwater. “This wasn’t the case 15 or 20 years ago,” says Ceri Worden, senior director of preservation programs for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
“For example, when you’re walking from the Jefferson Memorial to the Martin Luther King Memorial, you can’t walk along the edge of the Tidal Basin at all because in certain areas it’s muddy and slippery from flooding and it’s closed off,” she said. “That’s really unfortunate for one of the most important memorials in the country.”
The cherry trees along the basin are dying due to rising water levels caused by climate change. When the sidewalks are flooded, people trample on the tree roots. In addition, the cherry blossoms are blooming earlier and earlier as temperatures rise every year.
If nothing is done, the entire Tidal Basin walkway could be underwater in 70 years, Worden said.
The National Park Service has begun a $113 million project to repair the seawall and widen the walkways, said Jeff Reinbold, superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, which he said should curb the twice-daily flooding.
“We’re confident that the levees will be able to handle the majority of impacts that will occur into the future,” Reinbold said.
Still, other experts believe the Tidal Basin needs a longer-term plan that includes changing how visitors experience the sites there, “or we risk losing them entirely,” Worden said.
Sea Level Rise, Flooding and Heat Waves in Key West
When it comes to sea level rise, Key West, Florida, is “one of the places in the United States most vulnerable to sea level impacts,” according to Partners for Livable Communities.
Like much of South Florida, Key West is very flat, with many areas, including downtown, the center of tourist activity, less than 3 feet above sea level.
Unfortunately, NASA reports that Key West could experience up to seven feet of sea level rise by the year 2100. Such a dramatic sea level rise would leave much of the Keys underwater.
But it’s not just the slow rise in sea levels that has locals worried: They’re also worried about extremely hot summer days and violent hurricanes, Sheetal Almas, adaptation and energy coordinator for the city of Key West, told USA Today. Key West has always dealt with heat and hurricanes, but climate change is intensifying these threats.
Armas said the city is well aware of its vulnerability to climate change and is developing a climate adaptation plan to assess various threats. “We’re looking at what we can do to make the city more resilient,” he said.
Armas says people considering a visit to Key West should plan their vacations well, especially if they’re visiting between mid-August and mid-October, which is in the middle of hurricane season. She recommends getting travel insurance and “having a way to get off the island” if evacuation is necessary.
Hawaii faces wildfire threat – and more
Hawaii is known as the ideal vacation destination, but the island’s tourism industry faces some headwinds.
Last year, Photodarz Travel named Maui on its 2023 “Destinations to Avoid List” of 10 places tourists should reconsider visiting due to concerns about environmental damage caused by overtourism and climate change.
And then the wildfires started.
Many people were forced to flee their homes and live in hotels or leave the island after the fire devastated the town of Lahaina, highlighting concerns that tourists could take over island accommodations and displace local families. More than 100 people died in the fire.
Abbie Frazier, a climatologist who studies the spatiotemporal dynamics and impacts of climate change and climate variability, said Maui, Oahu and the Big Island could see increased damage from wildfires and other weather threats this summer.
Fraser is one of several experts who have warned that climate change will upend the state: Researcher Chip Fletcher previously told USA Today that Hawaii will face more wildfires, warmer sea and air temperatures, increased coastal erosion and more extreme rains.
The islands also face rising sea levels, more frequent droughts and storms, and changing patterns and variability of rainfall and river flow, according to the report, “Climate Change and Tourism,” produced by the University of Hawaii’s Sea Grant Center for Sustainable Coastal Tourism and funded by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
“Over the coming decades, climate change is expected to have increasingly adverse effects on Hawaii’s tourism sector, its primary economic driver,” the report said.
Contributor: Mark RamirezUSA Today; Gareth McGrath, USA Today Network
