Two recent stories from the Rhode Island Public Broadcasting Systems (PBS) claim that climate change is threatening the state’s drinking water, specifically by way of drought and sea water influx into aquifers. This is mostly false. While sea levels are rising, PBS exaggerates the rise. There is no evidence that extreme weather is getting worse for Rhode Island. Evidence suggests that population growth and infrastructure problems are mostly to blame for any threatened water supply.
The first story, “Climate change is threatening Prudence Island’s drinking water,” focuses primarily on an island called Prudence Island, which is home to 230 permanent residents, and the story explains that “snow birds” can make the population rise to about 1,500 people in summer months. PBS says that “climate change may be spurring a drinking water crisis for its residents.”
The very beginning of this story offers a viable explanation for low aquifer and water issues that the island has, though, with one resident explaining that older and less water-hungry houses are being replaced with much larger ones. The new homes have a higher water demand, and it is likely that many of these homes are seasonal rentals. Not only that, but according to the resident, people seem to be staying in their summer homes longer than in the past. She attributes this to longer summer weather seasons, but it is just as likely that post-COVID, more people are able to work remote, and thus enjoy their cottages longer. This means finite water supply is under more pressure and threatened by overuse.
Later in the article, a Brown University oceanographer claims that New England should expect more drought, more rain and snow in winter, and more intense storms in general. Weather data show that while there are more warm nights in the state, and “hot days” have also increased, overall precipitation has seen a slight increase since low points in the 1960s. (See figure below)
Indeed, drought data from the National Centers for Environmental Information’s Palmer Drought Severity Index for the state of Rhode Island show that the worst drought conditions occurred in the 1960s and 1950s, and have not been as severe or long lasting since. (See figure below)
Increasing drought is unlikely to be the culprit behind Rhode Island’s water woes.
The second PBS story, “How climate change will affect Rhode Island’s drinking water, and how we can better prepare,” makes similar claims, and focuses more on sea level rise and salt water intrusion into freshwater aquifers.
PBS interviewed the same expert for this story as the other, Baylor Fox-Kemper, a professor from Brown University’s Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences. He tells PBS that changes in sea level are slow to respond to emissions, and even if emissions stopped now, “we would still see sea level rise for quite some time — for hundreds of years.”
It is true that sea level rise should be expected regardless of human activity. The simple fact that the globe is exiting a glacial period, as well as leaving behind the Little Ice Age, should cause us to expect ice melt and sea level rise. The estimates that by 2100 Rhode Island will see 50 cm (19 inches) of rise are questionable, however.
Current rates of relative sea level change for Rhode Island sea level stations are around 2.97 (Newport) and 2.56 (Providence) mm per year. At that rate, relative local sea level will rise 222 mm by 2100, or 22 cm (8 inches). This is roughly the same rate of rise that occurred in the 20th century and the 19th century before that, so there is no signal indicating climate induced sea level rise acceleration. Fox-Kemper is assume acceleration that can’t be found in the best data. 8 inches is relatively low, indeed, being below global average sea level rise. Infrastructure planning should take sea level rise into account, but it is hardly a looming catastrophe.
The question remains – what is threatening Rhode Island’s water supply?
Population growth and ageing infrastructure seem to be the most immediate threats.
According to Census Bureau statistics (compiled by Neilsberg) Rhode Island’s population has risen and dropped in fits and starts, but the last few years seem to have seen a pretty sharp jump compared to previous years. It is the smallest state in the union, and is an island, all of which makes supporting a growing population more difficult. On Prudence Island, PBS reports that the “most promising water stores are all located on state land, much of which is designated as a conservation area” and are not allowed to be tapped for water wells.
In other parts of the state, water handling infrastructure is lacking. The state’s Infrastructure Report Card gives drinking water only a C+, due to ancient cast iron water mains with leaking and some lead contamination issues. State infrastructure and finite water does not appear to be keeping up with population growth.
Sorry, PBS, there is no reason to blame climate change for water woes in the state when data show it is far more likely that infrastructure and population issues are the culprits.
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Step 1: Invent bogeyman (“man made climate change”).
Step 2: Blame everything bad that happens on the bogeyman.
Step 3: Phone it in, because everything is due to “climate change”.
It’s like their own private Easy Button, for so-called journalists.
Rhode Island is an island? Not on my maps.I would suggest an edit to “It is the smallest state in the union, which makes supporting a growing population more difficult.”
I believe it has the second highest populations density, which supports your argument.
hmmm… never thought about why the state got that name, not being an island
There are islands-,Prudence, Aquidnick and others in Narragansett Bay, and Block Island, off the coast-that are part of Rhode Island, but most of the state and its population are firmly attached to the mainland. Come visit in Sept when the summer folks have left!
“It is the smallest state in the union, and is an island, all of which makes supporting a growing population more difficult.”
While the subject of this story, Prudence Island, is an island, the state of Rhode Island is not.
so how did it get the name including the word island? I believe it had some origin as a religious outpost or anti religious- so maybe it considered itself a political island? (too lazy to look it up)
Grok: Rhode Island is not entirely an island. The state, officially named the State of Rhode Island, includes a mainland portion and several islands, with the largest being Aquidneck Island, where Newport is located. The name “Rhode Island” historically referred to Aquidneck Island, possibly derived from Dutch explorer Adriaen Block calling it “Roodt Eylandt” (red island) or from Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano comparing an island to Rhodes. The state’s full name stems from its colonial charter, but much of its landmass is on the mainland, connected to neighboring states. For example, Providence, the capital, is on the mainland. About 14% of the state’s area is water, with Narragansett Bay being a significant feature, but it’s not a single island.
Oh dear! So easily dismissed! Btw can anyone tell what climate has changed beyond a little beneficial warming?
I’ve been hoping for decades that the climate in New England would become more like that in the SW. No luck so far. 🙂
Just drive your SUV more often and you will be able to bask in the warm sun!
Ummm….the new Ice Age has begun and we’re all doomed?
Antarctica’s Ice Sheet Grows for the First Time in Decades – What Does This Mean for Our Planet?
Nope? I give up. Is this a trick question?
The state of Rhode Island is named after an actual island in Narragansett Bay, whose original Narragansett name was Aquidnet, which became Aquethneck, then Aquidneck, because spelling is hard. Then in 1637, Roger Williams changed the name to the lie of Rods, or Rhod -Island, then becoming Rhode Island. As if all that isn’t confusing enough, another theory states that the Dutch called it Roode Eylant” or Red Island, due likely to reddish clays on some of the beaches.
“The state of Rhode Island is named after an actual island in Narragansett Bay, whose original Narragansett name was Aquidnet, which became Aquethneck, then Aquidneck, because spelling is hard.”
It’s especially hard when the stone aged tribes telling you this stuff don’t have a written language.
Two larger islands are just to the south of Prudence Island. The city of Jamestown (pop. ~6,000) is on Conanicut Island and Newport (pop. ~25,000) is on Aquidneck Island [the real Rhode Island**] with a population over 60,000. Question: From where do these folks get fresh water?
** Wikipedia: “It is unclear how Aquidneck came to be known as Rhode Island, but the earliest known use of the name was in 1637 by Roger Williams, and it was officially applied to the island in 1644: “Aquethneck shall be henceforth called the Ile of Rods or Rhod-Island.” The name “Isle of Rodes” is used in a legal document as late as 1646.[4][5]”
If I recall my 5th grade geography and history, the official name is “The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.” There is, or at least used to be, a Rhode Island which contained most of the population during the Colonial period and Providence Plantations on the mainland.
(i)The estimates that by 2100 Rhode Island will see 50 cm (19 inches) of rise are questionable, however.(/i)
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That comes to almost 7mm/year starting right now.
“While sea levels are rising, “
There is no evidence that CO2 is playing any role in this sea level rise.
There is no evidence that CO2 has any role in “the climate™” at all
So the RI PBS sucks- but not any more than the one in Albany, NY. It’s anti Trump and pro climate emergency all day every day. I tend to listen to it while driving because I haven’t found a decent commercial channel- don’t like their music and hate their advertising. Sometimes PBS has something interesting – they may interview a book author, or an MD, etc. I once wrote to the honcho there after Trump lost in 2020 and told him “Trump lost- when are you going to stop ranting against him all day every day”. He was indignant and told me to apologize. I told him exactly where to go. 🙂
Rhode Island is a deep blue state that has already wasted fortunes on an all-in effort developing renewable energy, especially off-shore wind and solar. The state politicians choose to ignore the hideous cost premium of both. Off-shore wind in New England is already in trouble, and being located between the 41st and 42nd parallels, Rhode Island’s solar energy potential is poor and unlikely to ever pay for itself. The opportunity cost of this distraction is enormous while the obvious need for an adequate, modern fresh water supply is neglected,
I think PBS in general is like that. On occasion I will watch nature shows on my local channel, but too often I end up reaching for the remote when the lecture about climate change begins. It’s a shame that you have some interesting and often beautifully filmed shows that are ruined by propaganda. It’s not unlike the old Soviet television where just about everything was sprinkled with propaganda. No wonder Trump is trying to defund it…
Groundwater is a significant source of drinking water and agricultural irrigation in the coastal plain and barrier islands of Virginia and North Carolina. I’m less familiar with NC, but in VA we have groundwater protection and withdrawal regulations, and groundwater withdrawal permits which must be issued for any large withdrawals. Also, these permits are not permanent, they must be renewed every 15 years, I think (it used to be ten). Saltwater intrusion is a concern all along the fresh water aquifers of the outer banks and eastern coastal plain near the ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Maybe Rhode Island needs to be more concerned with GW management and overstressing their aquifers and less about some hoax like “climate change.”
Similar in the past in Florida. The excessive use of ground water allowed sea water seepage.
Rhode Island is not an island. It is a mainland State with some islands in its bay, Narragansett Bay
Nonsense. “Snow birds” are already residents. Coming home for summer does not increase the population, quite the opposite. Leaving for winter decreases the population. No water planner anywhere at anytime would plan based on this idiotic idea of area population.
Linnea ==> Oops — “It is the smallest state in the union and is an island” — the state of Rhode island is NOT an island. Most of Rhode Island is firmly affixed to the continental mass to the west, the north, and the east. I suspect this is an editing error — meany to refer not to the state as a whole but to Prudence Island, which is one of the many small islands in Narragansett Bay, and some offshore, such as Block Island.
While the tide gauges of Rhode Island show a Relative Sea Level Rise of about 3 mm per year or 10 to 12 inches over the last century, according to NOAA Climate.gov, a full one half (1/2) of that, is due to the “land subsiding by about six inches per century.”
The areas where the tide gauges are located are invariably on filled water-front land — which contributes to the subsidence.
Whee the land itself is not subsiding, there is little sea level rise: 1 to 1.5 mm per year.
Kip, I don’t have the figures to hand, but same in eastern Virginia and, I would assume, most of the mid-Atlantic states. There was a lot of water in the “Tidewater” area (and still is) but a lot of wetlands, creeks, etc. got filled in over the last couple hundred years and a lot of the current development and infrastructure is on fill material. So a lot of the sea level rise along the east coast is actually due to land subsidence.
P.S.-a lot of the subsidance, though I don’t know the percentage, is due to dewatering and compaction of the local aquifers.
Sea level rises, sea level falls. It is called tides. Get over it, morons.