Protecting our shores from potential damage of rising sea waters

A popular topic for the City of Naples is how the rising sea levels could affect popular areas like 5th Avenue.

Researchers at Florida Gulf Coast University and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Organizations are doing their part to make sure people are informed.

Wednesday, they provided updates to their sea level rise project.

Researchers say currently, the global sea level is rising and the more it rises, the more easily those in low lying areas will be affected by storms or other natural disasters. It’ll also affect our beaches, and that has many in Collier County concerned.

“This is pretty much my family’s second home. We love it here; there’s no better beach that I could think of to come, so it is really really sad and it’s almost unimaginable to me, so hopefully that doesn’t happen,” Renee Guthart said.

Researchers are making sure that when sea levels do rise, we are fully prepared.

“We really need to have a sensitivity index study, which is what is currently being done in Collier County, so that we know areas that are sensitive to sea level rise and then we can make a decision on which areas we really can’t afford to lose and how to make them resilient,” said Joanne Muller, associate professor in the Water School, FGCU.

Researchers are already looking for solutions like building up major roadways and planting more mangroves along our shores.