Scientists just got some ancient clues about future sea-level rise – the Washington Post

Early Melt on the Greenland Ice Sheet (2017) by Jesse Allen, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.

Tangier Island — off the mainland coast of Virginia — is one of the last inhabited islands in the Chesapeake Bay. Before colonial settlers arrived in the 1700s, Indigenous people likely traveled to the island in the summer to take advantage of the abundant fish and crabs…Many descendants of the original settlers — with surnames like Crockett, Parks and Thomas — have remained to this day. The isolation has allowed the development of a unique accent, one that some residents describe as a mix between “Southern” and “Elizabethan” English….

This small Virginia island could be underwater before the next century – NPR

Tangier Island is seen in Accomack County, Va., on March 20, 2017. (courtesy of Chesapeake Bay Program, photo by Will Parson/Chesapeake Bay Program with aerial support by Southwings CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr).

Tangier Island — off the mainland coast of Virginia — is one of the last inhabited islands in the Chesapeake Bay. Before colonial settlers arrived in the 1700s, Indigenous people likely traveled to the island in the summer to take advantage of the abundant fish and crabs…Many descendants of the original settlers — with surnames like Crockett, Parks and Thomas — have remained to this day. The isolation has allowed the development of a unique accent, one that some residents describe as a mix between “Southern” and “Elizabethan” English….

First sea-level records for coastal community protection – the European Space Agency

South Georgia Island, 2018 (courtesy of European Space Agency: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2018), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO via Flickr).

Satellites have revolutionised our ability to measure sea level but their data becomes less reliable near coasts…To address this critical gap, ESA’s Climate Change Initiative Sea Level Project research team has reprocessed almost two decades of satellite data to establish a pioneering network of ‘virtual’ coastal stations. These stations now provide, for the first time, reliable and consistent sea-level measurements along coastlines…

Ghana’s vanishing coast: Climate change is eroding historic site – France 24

A view of the ruins of an ancient European fort at Keta. The devastation of the fort is largely due to sea erosion in the Keta area 2012 (by Gameli Adzaho Gameli Adzaho, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia).

In the Ghanaian city of Keta, a key part of the country’s history there is under threat from climate change. Fort Prinz en-stein, which was once a grim clog in the transatlantic slave trade, is now a shell of itself because of rising seas levels, relentless erosion and human neglect. Activists are now urging the government to act fast to preserve the UNESCO world heritage site…