Many people across the Carolinas worry about climate change but rarely talk about it — and relatively few believe it will personally affect them. That’s according to Yale University’s 2024 Climate Opinion Map, which shows fewer than half of North Carolinians think climate change will impact them personally in the future.
Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe says that perception doesn’t match reality.
“If you live in North Carolina and you’ve been here for more than a couple of years, climate change has already affected you,” Hayhoe said in an interview with WFAE. In her work with The Nature Conservancy, she educates folks on the connection between land use and the heat-trapping gases in Earth’s atmosphere.
Hayhoe, a world-renowned climate scientist, spoke with WFAE’s Zachary Turner about how global warming is already reshaping daily life in the Carolinas — from the coast to inland communities — and what people can do about it.
Rising seas, eroding coasts
Along the North Carolina coast, Hayhoe said sea levels are rising at an accelerating pace.
“Sea level is actually rising twice as fast now as it was two decades ago,” she said.
That increase is fueling more frequent “sunny day” flooding, worsening beach erosion and threatening coastal infrastructure. Hayhoe said wildlife is also being affected, including sea turtles that nest on Carolina beaches each summer.
“All of the big sea turtles that nest on our beaches are endangered species,” she said. “So it’s affecting people, it’s affecting infrastructure, and it’s affecting wildlife all along the coasts.”
Weather whiplash inland
Climate change is also stretching rainfall patterns in both directions, Hayhoe said.
“When it rains, we’re getting these massive downpours that cause all kinds of flooding, and they wash pollution into our watersheds,” she said. “And then on the other hand, like right now, we’re in a drought.”
Those droughts are lasting longer and becoming more intense, she said — a pattern many scientists describe as “weather whiplash.”
Why people stay silent
Despite these changes, Hayhoe said many people still hesitate to talk openly about climate change.
More people are worried than it might seem, she said, noting that about two-thirds of people in North Carolina say they are concerned about climate change.
“But if we don’t know what to do about something, then we don’t want to talk about it,” Hayhoe said.
Hayhoe said climate solutions are happening in places people might not expect, and at varying scales.
She points to clean shipping initiatives at the Port of Long Beach in California, where electric ferries are already in use. There are short-hop electric airplanes operating in places like Vancouver. She also highlighted how new cellphone technology is helping farmers in Africa adapt to shifting rainfall patterns by providing real-time forecasts and guidance on when to plant and fertilize.
“It’s helping people make a difference,” Hayhoe said.
In her weekly “Talking Climate” newsletter, Hayhoe shares one piece of good news, one piece of bad news and one example of what people are already doing to address climate change. She said she continues to be surprised by the range of solutions emerging around the world.
“We don’t have to be a president or a CEO or a big rich, famous person to catalyze climate action,” she said. “Most climate action starts with us as individuals.”
