How climate change could wreck beach vacations

Every summer, visitors flock to the beaches along Rhode Island’s 400 miles of coastline. And the locals gain the benefits of a five-billion-dollar tourism industry. But climate change is starting to interfere with Rhode Island’s beach season.

Climate change could bring an end to beach holidays.

Rubinoff: “We have seen more and more heavy rain events.”

Pam Rubinoff is a coastal resilience specialist for Rhode Island Sea Grant. She says excess rain washes lawn fertilizers and other pollutants into the ocean. It can also overwhelm sewer systems.

Rubinoff: “Sometimes that runoff will cause areas in the water to be cut off to swimming.”

And even when beaches are open, beachgoers may encounter problems.

Read/listen to the Yale Climate Connections story by Dianne Madson - “How climate change could wreck beach vacations.”