Report: Climate change could hurt Fort Sumter

Stronger storms and a rising sea level could do what Civil War cannons didn't — destroy Fort Sumter. That's the suggestion of a national parks advocacy group in a global warming report released Wednesday.

Climate change caused by man-made pollutants could have a devastating impact on the country's national parks overall, according to the report from the National Parks Conservation Association. The report highlighted the potential damage to the Great Smoky Mountains, among other sites.

The report also suggested that warming coastal waters could lead to outbreaks of two dangerous oyster diseases. But the association's Bart Melton said that was based on increased salinity from drought in the Chesapeake Bay. "We really can't comment on Charleston specifically."

Some Lowcountry oyster beds occasionally are closed because of contamination from storm water runoff, but the numbers stay about the same year to year, said Clair Boatwright, of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, which monitors the waters and science to regulate for public safety.

The report, "Unnatural Disaster: Global Warming and Our National Parks," by the Knoxville, Tenn.-based association, is the latest to key in on the potential effects of climate warming to push for more attention to its issues. It draws conclusions based on previously released studies but doesn't cite its own studies or make specific predictions.

The association urged Congress and the Bush administration to take action now to curtail global warming, caused by greenhouse gases, by investing in renewable clean energy, retiring coal-fired power plants and setting tougher standards on power plant emissions.

"Rising sea levels, stronger storms, larger, more frequent floods and greater fluctuations between wet and dry conditions take a toll. Not surprisingly, historic and archaeologically important sites are at risk," the report said.

"In 1989, Hurricane Hugo filled South Carolina's Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began, with 7 to 8 feet of water," it said in its only reference to the Lowcountry. Nearby Fort Moultrie is part of Fort Sumter's national monument site, and the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site is in Mount Pleasant. All are part of the parks system.

The report suggests that the effects of global warming on the southern Appalachians might be more subtle than glaciers melting in Alaska but just as significant.

"We certainly wouldn't dispute any of the concerns that they raise," said Bob Miller, spokesman for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, noting that the NPCA's proposed solutions "are basically the same things we would suggest."

However, the Smokies are seeing improvement in related pollution issues involving ozone and haze, Miller said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach Bo Petersen at 745-5852 or bpetersen@postandcourier.com.