Film offers Rhode Island opportunity to learn NC, NJ Sandy lessons

Free public viewing Sept. 29 of Shored Up, film on climate change impacts, Superstorm Sandy

An award-winning film about climate change will be screened on Tuesday, September 29, at 6 p.m., in Corless Auditorium at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography (directions at http://www.gso.uri.edu/about/visitor-information/). The event will be followed by a panel discussion and is free and open to the public.

Shored Up: When Human Nature and the Force of Nature Collide, is a documentary about climate change and sea level rise in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, centered in New Jersey and North Carolina. Shored Up examines the predicament of coastal development. What will a rising sea do to homes, businesses, and the survival of communities? The New York Times called Shored Up “a thought-provoking documentary about the folly of shoreline construction in the Hurricane Sandy age.” Beginning three years before Sandy hit and following the debates over beach replenishment and other attempts to hold back the sea, the film asks “Do we continue to develop as we have in the past, ignoring clear risks and danger? Or, do we allow science to guide our policies for the future?

Following the one-hour film, a discussion panel will examine these questions from the Rhode Island perspective. The panel will be led by Grover Fugate, executive director of the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), which is developing comprehensive policy and tools to help coastal communities become more resilient to sea level rise and the flooding and erosion associated with storms. The R.I Shoreline Change Special Area Management Plan (Beach SAMP) is being facilitated by the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center and Rhode Island Sea Grant. A Beach SAMP public process is underway, and the film screening is serving as an official Beach SAMP meeting.

To RSVP for the free film showing or to inquire about the Beach SAMP, please e-mail beachsamp@etal.uri.edu or call 401-874-6106. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the film will begin at 6:00 p.m. Popcorn and sweets will be served. For more information about the film, see the website: http://shoredupmovie.com