Comment [on “Sea level rise shown to drive coastal erosion”]

Abstract

Leatherman et al. [2000] ( Eos, Trans., AGU , February 8, 2000, p.55) affirm that global eustatic sea‐level rise is driving coastal erosion. Furthermore, they argue that the long‐term average rate of shoreline retreat is 150 times the rate of sea‐level rise. This rate, they say, is more than a magnitude greater than would be expected from a simple response to sea‐level rise through inundation of the shoreline. We agree that sea‐level rise is the primary factor causing shoreline retreat in stable coastal areas.This is intuitive. We also believe, however, that the Leatherman et al. [2000] study has greatly underestimated the rate of coastal recession along most low slope shorelines. Slopes along the North Carolina continental shelf/coastal plain approach 10,000:1. To us, this suggests that we should expect rates of shoreline recession 10,000 times the rate of sea‐level rise through simple inundation of the shoreline.