The gradual process of sea level rise is not yet a concern to most elected officials and the public and as a result long-term planning has not yet occurred. In the short term, engineering and technological solutions to sea level rise such as bulkheads and breakwaters have looked economically feasible. But these are expensive erosion control measures which when summed over the whole Bay area, aggravate rather than ameliorate the sea level rise problem. And bulkheads will do nothing to stop submergence from higher water levels. Meanwhile, greenhouse gas concentrations increase, temperatures are higher, beaches are eroding, wetlands are being lost, population is expanding and coastal ecosystems are suffering damage.
Sea level is predicted to rise three feet during the next century.
Until the 1600s the Bay watershed was covered with lush vegetation, roots held the soil and canopies of dense leaves tempered the wind and rain. The history of discernible human impact on the watershed began some 300 or 400 years ago when the first wave of European colonists cleared 20 percent of the land. By mid-nineteenth century thousands of acres of oak forest were cleared for corn and tobacco. Buildup of silt became such a problem that the county seat at Joppatown on the Gunpowder River was moved to Baltimore. Sediments from the early agricultural erosion settled as mud flats on sandy shores, marsh grasses took root and new wetlands were created.