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Coastal communities are racing to restore marshes, like these in San Francisco Bay, to create a barrier against storm surges and sea level rise.
(Cris Benton/NPR)
In a hotter climate, dirt is a hot commodity.
With sea levels expected to rise 3 to 6 feet by the end of the century, coastal communities are moving fast to construct major shoreline projects to protect themselves. As the size of these projects expands, the primary building materials — dirt and mud — are getting scarce.
Dirt (what you dig up on land) and mud or sediment (the wetter variety already in rivers and bays) are the raw materials of climate change adaptation. They're used to build levees, the massive earthen barriers that hold back waves, and to raise elevation so buildings can sit higher than the flood plain.