As seas rise, American history could be washed away

New Delhi, India Jul 3, 2026 ALN: Sean Romo stops digging the moment he sees a faint line emerge in the sandy Virginia soil. It’s just a slight change in color, but to Romo, director of archaeology for Jamestown Rediscovery, it may be another piece of America’s origin story.

“I think it might be a gate,” he says quietly. Every inch of soil holds the possibility of revealing something that has not seen daylight since at least the early 1600s. “You can’t put a shovel in the ground without finding something,” Romo adds.

Few places in the United States carry the historical weight of this small island along Virginia’s James River. This was the site of the first permanent English settlement in North America, founded in 1607. It was here that America’s first representative assembly convened in 1619. It was here that Pocahontas married tobacco planter John Rolfe. And it was here that the first enslaved Africans were forced ashore, marking the beginning of a system of slavery that would shape the nation for centuries.

“For American history it’s hard to have more of an impact than Jamestown,” Romo says. “It all starts here. Without Jamestown there is no modern United States.”

Archaeologists continue to uncover the past even as the place preserving it is beginning to disappear from rising waters.

A history buried beneath our feet

It was long believed the original James Fort had disappeared into the James River until it was rediscovered in 1994. Archaeologists have now unearthed more than 5 million artifacts, including glass bottles, pottery, tools, beads, and human remains. These finds have transformed historians’ understanding of England’s first successful colony and the people whose lives converged here: English settlers, the Powhatan people, and the first enslaved Africans brought to English America.

However, Jamestown is under attack from rising waters. Sea levels here have risen about 1.6 feet over the last century, and that rate is accelerating. Scientists project another three feet of rise or more by 2075. The James River steadily erodes one side of the island while expanding wetlands encroach from the other. Excavation pits now regularly flood after heavy rain or unusually high tides.

“We always have to be meticulous,” Romo says. “But we do need to pick the pace up because we are under severe threat from climate change. And the real big one for us is flooding.”

A race against the water

Ground-penetrating radar now helps researchers identify what lies beneath the surface before they ever break ground, allowing them to focus on areas most at risk. Every excavation has become an exercise in triage to decide which pieces of history can be saved before the water reaches them. This approach is not just a matter of urgency; it is a necessity to preserve the legacy of a site that holds immense cultural and historical significance.

Jamestown is among the most visible examples of a problem unfolding all along America’s coastlines. Our burning of fossil fuels is warming the planet and melting its ice sheets. Seawater also expands as it gets hotter, contributing to sea level rise around the world. By 2050, an estimated 2.5 million Americans, and many of the nation’s most treasured historic sites, could face severe coastal flooding, according to the nonprofit news and science organization Climate Central.

The coastline is changing

“The map is changing,” says Rob Young, a coastal geologist at Western Carolina University whose team is assessing climate risks at all 107 coastal units of the national park system. “And climate change and rising sea levels are making that map change more quickly than it was 100 years ago.”

The consequences extend far beyond archaeological sites. Flooded roads and parking lots increasingly restrict visitor access to national parks. Historic forts experience more frequent inundation. Barrier islands along the southeast are eroding so rapidly that some landscapes are becoming almost unrecognizable. These changes not only threaten the physical sites but also the educational and cultural experiences they provide to future generations.

Young points to North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where homes continue to collapse into the Atlantic as the shoreline retreats. In 1999, engineers moved the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse nearly a quarter mile inland to protect it from the encroaching sea. Some landmarks, however, cannot simply be relocated. The historical and cultural significance of places like Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired, cannot be understated. Such sites are not just physical structures; they are symbols of America’s complex history.

“We’re not gonna move Fort Sumter,” Young says. Instead, he argues, the country will have to decide which places can realistically be defended and which may ultimately have to be surrendered to a changing coastline. This decision-making process will require a careful balance between historical preservation and practical considerations of safety and sustainability.

“So no, it’s not gonna look like what it looks like now for your kids or for your grandkids,” Young warns. “The trick for us as a society is to care enough to admit that and have a good national conversation about what we do about it and what we can save and what we can’t.”

Jamestown’s sea wall, which dates back to 1902, was recently reinforced with giant boulders to prevent erosion. This may buy time, but Romo knows it is not a permanent solution and that water will continue to change the landscape. The ongoing battle against climate change requires not only immediate action but also long-term strategies that can adapt to the evolving al conditions.

“If we do nothing, we’re gonna go from Jamestown Island to Jamestown Islands in the next 50 years. The time to act is now,” he says, “to protect this space and to make sure future generations can still learn about and experience the place where American history was made.”

The implications of inaction extend beyond the loss of physical structures; they include the erasure of cultural memory and identity. As more historical sites face the threat of flooding and erosion, the narratives they embody risk being lost forever. This underscores the urgency for policymakers, historians, and communities to collaborate on preservation efforts that take into account the realities of climate change.

In light of these challenges, innovative preservation techniques and adaptive management strategies are becoming increasingly important. Some experts are advocating for the use of technology, such as digital archiving and 3D modeling, to document and preserve historical artifacts and sites before they are lost. These technologies can provide valuable resources for future generations, enabling them to engage with history even if the original sites are no longer accessible.

As the nation grapples with the realities of climate change, the fate of Jamestown and similar historic sites serves as a poignant reminder of the delicate balance between preserving our past and adapting to an uncertain future. The ongoing efforts at Jamestown Rediscovery highlight the importance of proactive measures to safeguard not only the artifacts of our history but also the stories they tell about who we are as a nation.