Environment

To those living on Virginia’s coastlines, discussions of climate change are no longer theoretical. Rising sea levels has real impact, right now. A report released this week by researchers at William and Mary predicts climate change could cost the Hampton Roads area more than $100 million in damages EACH year, if nothing is done. 

At a meeting in Maine this week, Atlantic coast fisheries managers agreed to increase the catch for menhaden, a fish considered crucial to birds, other fish and by commercial watermen to catch crabs. It's also key to the remaining fish oil plant on the East Coast here in Virginia.  

Environmental activists began a three-day protest outside Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe’s offices in Richmond today.

A small but vocal group of environmentalists have consistently called out Virginia’s Governor for more than a year now, primarily for his support of pipeline projects in the state.

Monday’s picketing is not the first time this group has converged on the capitol, and it won’t be the last -- says Kelly Trout with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

While oyster farming is a multi-million dollar industry in Virginia, there’s only so much space to grow them. In some places, it is the same space used by waterfront homeowners and recreational boaters, and that has led to conflicts that could mean removing some oyster farms.

Around the Chesapeake Bay, a stalled weather system and remnants of Tropical Storm Julia dumped between eight and 13 inches of rain over the past few days. Flooding closed and delayed schools in the eastern part of the state.