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Coastal Cities Face Down Rising Tides At Newport Conference

Keeping History Above Water, a conference organized by the Newport Restoration Foundation, will focus on protecting historic places, such as the Point neighborhood in Newport, from rising seas.
Ambar Espinoza / RIPR
Keeping History Above Water, a conference organized by the Newport Restoration Foundation, will focus on protecting historic places, such as the Point neighborhood in Newport, from rising seas.

Historic places all over the world face the challenge of rising seas as a result of climate change. Preservationists have convened in Newport this week to talk about how to protect these treasured places.

The Newport Restoration Foundation organized this week’s conference, Keeping History Above Water. Executive Director Pieter Roos said a range of experts from around the country and the world are examining ways to protect historic properties.

In some places, seas are expected to rise within a matter of decades. But Roos said some communities are already dealing with severe flooding.

“When you’re faced with global change such as this, we are going to have to adapt or perish just as everything does,” he said.

Roos hopes the conference will equip people with a better understanding of risks and some solutions for dealing with floods and minimizing damage.

“And one is to make something more resilient,” said Roos. “Another is to adapt to the change. Another is to literally move away from it.”

Sessions will feature other countries dealing with flooding, with examples from Iran, Italy and the United Kingdom. 

Copyright 2016 The Public's Radio

Ambar Espinoza’s roots in environmental journalism started in Rhode Island a few years ago as an environmental reporting fellow at the Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting. She worked as a reporter for Minnesota Public Radio for a few years covering several beats, including the environment and changing demographics. Her journalism experience includes working as production and editorial assistant at National Public Radio, and as a researcher at APM’s Marketplace.

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