The seaside town of North Carolina’s Outer Banks attracts vacationers from all over the world.
They enjoy sandy beaches with family and friends, surf rising sea swells, fish in the Atlantic and healthy waters, and marvel at the wild horses that their ancestors arrived centuries ago. I’m here to meet you.
The Outer Banks are changing, and not just because of new housing and development on the barrier islands that jut out about 30 miles into the ocean. Sea level is rising. Coastal erosion is changing the coastline. Hurricanes and Megastorms are raging communities.
North Carolina Health News and Narrative Arts/Coastal You Media held a workshop this spring to give young people from the Outer Banks a bigger voice in the climate change debate.
With generous financial support from Sea Grant, North Carolina through its community collaborative research program, and significant support from Alanzaz Rasculine, Assistant University Director of the Southeastern Climate Adaptation Science Center at North Carolina State University, NC Health News Founder and editor Rose Hoban, North Carolina Health News reporter Ann Bryce, and Narrative Arts media producer Sarah Sloane worked with six students to help develop the podcast and essays.
They explored whether the Outer Banks would exist decades from now, but what they produced in just a few days is a sight to behold and many conversations about climate change are needed. We have compiled their essays and podcasts.We hope their important voices will give new awareness to the issues that impact their lives and the generation behind them.