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Sea level rises have become a global phenomenon, but in Maryland, the accelerated rate of sea level rise is forcing the state’s land to sink over 10 centimeters per decade. According to a study conducted by Virginia Tech and the U.S. Geological Survey earlier this year, the state’s shorelines are depleting causing Maryland to be at risk of major environmental consequences.
Maryland is the fourth most vulnerable state against the effects of sea level rise. The Maryland Department of the Environment has budgeted to invest approximately $3 billion towards sea level rise solutions to avoid the extreme threat for the state, as 72% of the population lives in coastal areas.
How Is Maryland Sinking?
Various factors including the overconsumption of natural water, dry wetlands and increased infrastructure make the land significantly denser, allowing it to sink over time. Since the 1950s, sea levels in Maryland, specifically in Annapolis and along the coast, have risen at an accelerated rate.
Researchers have concluded that land sinkage is occurring due to a process known as subsidence. Subsidence is when an area of land gradually sinks due to the compaction of aquifers, drainage of organic soils, underground mining, or natural combustion.
Scientists at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation have found that the constant pulling of water from Maryland’s aquifers has played a role in causing subsidence.
“As the populations have increased in Maryland we are pulling more water out all the time [of aquifers], and when you pull the water out the land starts to fall down because the water was helping to hold it up, so you get this slow sinking in addition to the water rising from sea level rise,” said Gussie Maguire, a Maryland Environmental Scientist for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “Long-term we are not going to get that land back after a while. You have these more intense flooding events, but little by little you are actually losing inches or feet of shoreline.”
Previous research has underestimated Maryland’s and other East Coast states’ vulnerability to subsidence, the recent study, released by Nature Communications, found. Researchers have predicted that 58 to 100% of coastal marshes, along the U.S. Atlantic coast, are losing elevation relative to sea level. As a result, coastal states, such as Maryland are left highly susceptible to massive flooding in the future.
“The reality of climate change is very visible to those living on the Bay. Smith Island and Tangier Island are inhabited islands in the mid-Bay whose residents are already losing their homes to sea-level rise,” according to a factsheet from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. “Other previously inhabited islands, such as Sharp’s Island and Holland’s Island, are completely submerged.”
Scientists are still determining exactly how fast the sea levels are going to continue to rise. However, Maryland officials are concerned that sea level rises and land sinking directly impact the daily lives of residents. With a population of more than six million residents, Marylanders face the potential of experiencing an estimated 6 inches of sinking within the next 14 years.
Combating Local Environmental Challenges, Concerns About Survival
Local advocacy group Nature Forward focuses on educating and advocating for natural environments across the DMV. Within their practices, the goal of the organization is to protect conservancy areas in the region that are directly facing environmental threats.
Due to the increased vulnerability of Maryland, the state must prioritize disaster preparedness to avoid intense impacts resulting from land sinking, sea level rise, and floods. Nature Forward and other environmental advocacy groups in Maryland have begun contributing to building trees and spreading environmental education to those in overdeveloped areas.
“Climate change impacts everyone and it most often impacts those who have the fewest resources to recover from those effects,” said Denisse Guitarra, Maryland Conservation Advocate at Nature Forward.
Maryland is no stranger to disastrous flooding, however vulnerable regions are not always prepared for the extreme damages caused. Areas such as Turner Station, Ellicott City, and along the Bay have histories of undergoing major flooding and damage to residences. The Valley of Patapsco River has a history of flooding, which has been deadly and massively invasive among Historic Ellicott City communities, specifically, and spreads into Catonsville. Located in the center of Maryland, families have been relocated, businesses have been destroyed, and memories have become ruins on multiple occasions.
Owners of Backwater Books, Matt and Alli Krist, started their business in Old Ellicott City in 2022. Despite the past floods, the Krist family gravitated to joining a community that is tight-knit and uplifting. However, the couple is very concerned about the longevity of their store due to the effects of climate change.
“If [flooding] continues to happen every couple years, can the town survive? I think that’s ultimately the biggest concern,” said Matt Krist.
If Maryland continues to sink along the coast, it could continue to pose threats to the rest of the state as well, particularly vulnerable areas that get drastically hit by natural disasters frequently.
Maryland residents can build protection for the potential of floods and formulate plans to secure the future of the state’s homes, economic welfare and wetlands. Avoidance of coastal barriers, considering climate change in infrastructure plans, and continued education can drastically support the state in combating rising sea levels.
“One thing that is huge for sea level rise is creating living shorelines…instead of just putting up walls all around your waterfront, you create beaches, dunes and spaces with plants and living things that [naturally] combat sea level rise,” said Maguire.
