Stories from Ashore: How My Island Childhood Inspired My Commitment to Climate Adaptation
Courtesy of Claire Martin.
By Jolie Jaycobs
I grew up on the ocean.
I spent my youngest years jumping in and out of playful waves on Nantucket Island, one of the most eastern towns in the United States, 30 miles from Massachusetts’ mainland coast. Throughout my childhood I could never hide from the strong Atlantic breeze. As idealistic as it may sound, I spent summer days sailing in the harbor, climbing trees, and traversing the dunes, bogs, and forests.
A young Jolie on Nantucket.In the winter, once the island quieted down, my dad and I searched for new forms of excitement. When gray, ominous skies arrived, one of our favorite activities was to storm watch on the beach. We always found ourselves strangely mesmerized by what the icy winds and winter waves had in store for our little, unprotected oasis.
This childhood, immersed in sea air, instilled in me an innate passion and care for Mother Nature. It also kept me humble, as I could never easily turn a blind eye to her power. Over the course of my childhood, I watched the rising tides of the Atlantic eat away at my little island. Today, my childhood home sits about three blocks from the island's eastern ‘Sconset Beach. Thirty years ago it was four blocks. The block closest to the shore is gone, swallowed by the water. As a very small child, I could walk the 1.5-mile long path along the seaside bluff from the village center to the local lighthouse; but then part of the path washed away.
When I was in fourth grade the lighthouse itself had to be moved because it was at risk of washing away too. My whole fourth grade class got to wear yellow construction hats down to the site and watch this grand structure get rolled back from the bluff, surrendering its territory to the persistent sea. During these years, as an elementary schooler, I was conscious and somewhat fearful of erosion, but I never tied it to anything other than temperamental ocean waves.
A 1957 aerial image of Nantucket’s ‘Sconset Beach from the Nantucket Historical Association’s archives. The orange line (estimated by Jolie with the consultation of 2021 google maps imaging) shows the current start of the beach and the red line shows the current shoreline.As I grew older, I began to re-conceptualize what climate change meant, and I was challenged by its implications for my hometown. In school they told us that we could “Save the Earth” by recycling scrap paper and turning out the lights, but suddenly that was not nearly enough. The problems and the solutions both became much bigger, or perhaps I just became big enough to understand them. Either way, I started to see that through extreme weather and rising seas, climate change was advancing erosion rates right in my backyard.
If we continue to rely on fossil fuels, the seas will continue to rise, extreme weather will become more frequent, and Nantucket will find itself underwater at an unnecessarily expedited pace. While seeing the damage to my home, I also increasingly recognized that Nantucket is in good company. Island communities and coastal areas all around the world are grappling with erosion, and that is only one of the many environmental dangers that force people to abandon the places they and their families have known as home for generations. With time, I began to frequently ponder this disturbing reality and wanted to find a place for myself in the solution.
Ultimately, the issue of climate change and extreme weather is not going anywhere, and no one will be able to hide from it. However, we can limit the intensity and the scope of the damage. I’ve experienced the Atlantic winds for a long time. Their intense power used to feel like a reason to fear them, but now I see that power as an opportunity.
“I see a future where we implement waterfront park systems, restore wetlands, and update infrastructure to build resilience in the face of sea level rise. But these things will not happen passively. We must lean into our innovation, implementing changes swiftly and with conviction, in a sense mirroring the seas themselves. ”
Now, I see those winds as a force we can harness to move toward a future powered by renewable energy. I see a future where we implement waterfront park systems, restore wetlands, and update infrastructure to build resilience in the face of sea level rise. But these things will not happen passively. We must lean into our innovation, implementing changes swiftly and with conviction, in a sense mirroring the seas themselves. As Islanders, our history has been built around finding ways to be resilient, to work with the cards the sea has dealt us. Now we are looking at a new opportunity to reshape our lives in the face of climate change in order to protect our coastal communities.
The innovation Envision Resilience could bring to Nantucket and similar communities up and down our coasts is incredibly exciting if we just lean into the lessons this project teaches us. I have studied and worked in climate policy and education because I’m dedicated to building a future that will allow myself, my friends, my children, and theirs, to live long, healthy lives on this planet. I hope many more will continue to join me, so that maybe someday we can live in a world in which we find peace in simply watching the waves roll in.
About the author: Jolie grew up on Nantucket Island. She graduated from Haverford College in 2020 with a B.A. in Environmental Studies. Since then she has worked for a few nonprofits in environmental advocacy and education. She now works in faculty support at the Harvard Business School. When she visits the island Jolie still loves to spend time exploring Nantuckets beautiful natural places through biking, running and sailing.
