Pro-pollution lawmakers are leaving North Carolinian communities exposed to increasing threats from climate change.

A new study of fifty years of data on tropical storms in the Atlantic reveals that storms today are twice as likely to rapidly intensify as they near landfall, due to warmer ocean waters likely associated with global climate change.

The new study looked at 830 Atlantic tropical cyclones since 1971. Its findings confirmed patterns observed during recent seasons as both long-lasting and associated with warmer ocean waters. See the full study here.

But as storms are intensifying, pro-pollution lawmakers are leaving North Carolinians exposed to the increased effects by rolling back regulations for one of our greatest tools for handling flooding: our wetlands.

Wetlands don’t only serve as essential habitats for birds and other wildlife, and hatcheries for fish and shellfish. These at-risk wetlands act as natural sponges, soaking down stormwater runoff that would otherwise flood downstream land and communities, filtering out sediment that would clog our streams and pollutants that would foul our drinking water supplies. Clean water depends on working wetlands. And everyone has the right to clean water.

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