Virginia: "There is a high degree of scepticism in the political and the general public."

BBC News - Virginia's dying marshes and climate change denial

The sea level in the Chesapeake Bay area and in south-eastern Virginia is predicted to rise by as much as 5.2ft (1.6m) by the end of the century.

Ancient geologic forces are causing the land literally to sink, while the amount of water in the oceans is increasing because of global warming, scientists say.

..."Here in Virginia there is very little political will to address the mitigation side of things - reducing our carbon footprint, reducing greenhouse gas emissions," says Carl Hershner, who studies coastal resources management at the Virginia Institute for Marine Sciences.

"There is a high degree of scepticism in the political and the general public."

..."Sea level rise was having a measurable impact on the readiness of the ships," says retired Capt Joseph Bouchard, who was commander of the base from 2000-2003. "And that's unacceptable."

So the Navy decided to replace the old piers with double-decked piers - one for utilities, the other for the ship operations - with the upper deck 21ft above current sea level.

..."Were it not for sea level rise caused by climate change, the Navy could have replaced those piers with single deck piers at much much less cost," he says.