In Virginia Beach, Virginia, we are surrounded by a variety of different beaches, including the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, Croatan, Sandbridge, North End, and Chic’s Beach. Some are filled with noise, tourists, and amazing restaurants, while others are more secluded and quiet. Growing up, my family and I [1] spent every summer constantly driving the longer distances for the more relaxing beaches, which are usually only known by the locals. The beach has practically watched me grow up, and my love for the beach has only grown with every visit. But as climate change has started to show its effects, who knows how many summers we have left at the beach?
Sandbridge Beach holds every beach memory I have from when I was little. My family and I would pack the car with anything you could imagine. Looking at our family, people definitely thought we were tourists. We treated every trip as if it was our first and last time going.
When I was little, my family and I took a trip to the beach together, and on the way we blasted music, rolled the windows down, and stopped for snacks on the way. Once we got to the beach, we settled in with our countless coolers filled with a variety of snacks and juices, displayed our brightly colored beach umbrellas, set up our towels and chairs, and eagerly sprayed on our sunscreen.
We did every activity possible, and it felt as if we blinked and the sun was setting. As we packed the car up and headed home, every seat was filled with sand, our hair knotted and filled with salt from the water, and everyone was quiet from exhaustion. I haven’t been back to Sandbridge Beach in a while due to the high population of people and the rise of sea level causing a tight squeeze. City of Virginia Beach Public Works shares, “sea level rise is occurring at an accelerated rate …” and is affected by most beaches in the area.
As I have grown up, Chic’s Beach is where I have spent most of my time, especially with my friends. In the summer, my friends and I would find a way, no matter what, to spend time at the beach together. We go to a church called Ascent that is located right on Shore Drive and practically a couple steps from Chic’s Beach. In the summer we would spend the morning at our church service then rush together to the beach. We would sometimes order pizza or get Dunkin beforehand to allow ourselves to fuel up before the long beach day. As I have gotten older, the activities at the beach are different; we spend more of our time laying out and tanning than any actual activities.
Once we would get bored of tanning, we would look for pretty seashells to keep or try to search in the water to hopefully find some sea creatures. Harwood states, “habitat loss and fragmentation were the principal cause of extinction … effects of human activities on the extent and distribution of natural habitat have been most evident.” Therefore, we would usually try to mind our business in the water.
However, if we were in the water, we would be dodging the huge waves coming for us and praying the salty water doesn’t get into our eyes. Armstrong writes, “about one-quarter of the CO2 humans produce each year is absorbed by oceans … thereby increasing the ocean’s acidity … the current rate of increase in the acidity of ocean surface waters is roughly fifty times faster than known historical change.” As the day would come to a close, we would wish each other a safe trip home and go our separate ways. Even though my beach days look different from when I was little, the feeling of going home with the same sandy car and knotted hair never changes; it reminds me of home.
As people who live in the Hampton Roads area, I think we can all agree that flooding is one of the major problems we deal with. It only makes our day more complicated than it has to be. I think everyone has had a day when their anticipated plans with friends and family, errands they set for themselves to run, or even after school activities had been called off due to bad weather. City of Virginia Beach Public Works shares, “sea level rise is occurring at an accelerated rate, increasing the frequency, severity, and extent of many different flooding event types. This is causing wide-ranging impacts on our infrastructure, economy, and community.”
Climate change over the years has impacted Virginia as a whole. Katherine Hafner states, “sea levels are rising faster in Norfolk than anywhere else on the East Coast, driven by a combination of warming oceans and sinking lands in the region.” Living right on the coast, we all know Virginia is already at high risk for experiencing flooding, and now with climate change things aren’t looking any better. It’s become a worldwide problem. It isn’t just an easy fix, and it will most likely be a daunting challenge of the twenty-first century. Though weather itself can’t be controlled, the increasing worries of climate change can be if we choose to do something about it.
Climate change is something that will only get worse if people don’t realize the problem now. These issues can have economic, environmental, and communal effects on our home. I hope other children that grow up in a beach town won’t have to see their beaches slowly become ruined.
[1] First person pronouns (I, me) refer to Sarah.
