To the north on Cape Hatteras, the US Park Service saw the futility of protecting America's most famous lighthouse from  the eroding shoreline.  In 1999 it moved Hatteras Light back 2800 feet from the surf. Hatteras Erosion along Cape Hatteras North Carolina has been about 12 feet per year in recent years, leaving house after house stranded in the surf, awaiting its destruction. This is due to a combination of rising sea level and stronger storms and hurricanes, effects of increasing warmth in the atmosphere and ocean. Federal insurance guarantees money for rebuilding, and local officials continue to bulldoze sand back onto beaches -- both of which actions actually increase erosion damage, according to scientists.

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras

To the north on Cape Hatteras, the US Park Service saw the futility of protecting America's most famous lighthouse from  the eroding shoreline.  In 1999 it moved Hatteras Light back 2800 feet from the surf. Hatteras Erosion along Cape Hatteras North Carolina has been about 12 feet per year in recent years, leaving house after house stranded in the surf, awaiting its destruction. This is due to a combination of rising sea level and stronger storms and hurricanes, effects of increasing warmth in the atmosphere and ocean. Federal insurance guarantees money for rebuilding, and local officials continue to bulldoze sand back onto beaches -- both of which actions actually increase erosion damage, according to scientists.

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras