EPA estimates of the Area of Dry Land Close to Sea Level in North Carolina

The table below provides EPA's estimated uncertainty range of the area of dry land below particular elevations, in square kilometers. The uncertainty range considers the varying accuracy of the elevation data that the EPA study used. For example, Beaufort County has between 49 and 93 square kilometers of dry land within half a meter above spring high water

The majority of land close to sea level is wetland rather than dry land, so the EPA study also provided a table of the area of North Carolina wetlands vulnerable to sea level rise. A printer-friendly file with the area of dry land and wetland vulnerable to sea level rise in North Carolina is also available.

Low and High Estimates of the Area of Land Close to Sea Level by County: North Carolina¹
Meters above Spring High Water
	0.5		1.0		2.0				3.0				5.0
County	low	high	low	high		low	high			low	high			low	high
	------------------------Square kilometers of dry land below a given elevation¹-----------------------
Beaufort	49	93	109	156	257			317	422			482	722			744
Bertie	1.8	3.4	4.7	6.8	12			15	22			26	56			65
Bladen	0	0	0	<0.01	0.02			0.06	0.2			0.4	10			16
Brunswick	14	20	24	31	48			55	74			83	140			149
Camden	11	21	26	46	115			147	201			232	321			336
Carteret	56	95	127	179	326			379	427			437	490			496
Chowan	2.9	5.0	6.5	9.2	17			22	42			55	173			188
Columbus	0.00	0.01	0.02	0.04	0.1			0.2	0.5			0.6	1.6			1.9
Craven	7.9	16	20	32	60			78	111			132	243			267
Currituck	23	38	50	71	143			178	252			273	322			326
Dare	47	65	71	86	106			117	133			140	154			155
Duplin	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01	<0.01			0.01	0.03			0.07	0.9			1.5
Edgecombe	0	0	0	0	0			<0.01	<0.01			<0.01	0.02			0.03
Gates	5.3	11	11	16	22			27	36			50	107			130
Greene	0	0	0	0	0			0	0			<0.01	0.01			0.02
Halifax	0	0	0	0	0			0	0			0	<0.01			0.06
Hertford	3.7	6.9	7.4	11	17			21	26			31	50			55
Hyde	280	410	433	482	548			586	641			660	704			707
Jones	1.8	2.7	3.0	4.0	6.1			7.7	11			14	35			41
Lenoir	0	0	0	0	0			0.01	0.06			0.1	1.7			2.8
Martin	0.5	1.8	2.6	5.6	13			18	24			27	36			38
New Hanover	8.3	13	15	20	30			35	45			52	84			90
Northampton	0.05	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.4			0.8	1.6			2.6	6.7			8.0
Onslow	25	33	35	43	58			68	85			96	152			166
Pamlico	27	48	64	95	170			194	243			263	322			325
Pasquotank	11	26	40	65	131			161	221			259	457			460
Pender	5.9	9.9	12	17	28			36	55			69	136			149
Perquimans	5.0	8.8	12	18	52			79	145			189	427			432
Pitt	1.1	1.8	2.4	3.7	7.8			10	17			21	57			65
Sampson	0	0	0	0	0			0	0.03			0.06	0.6			0.9
Tyrrell	131	235	269	321	358			369	375			378	380			380
Washington	5.6	14	22	38	81			106	192			238	535			556
Statewide (NC)	780	1275	1495	1936	2935			3409	4231			4645	6614			6845
1. Low and high are an uncertainty range based on the contour interval and/or stated root mean square error (RMSE) of the input elevation data. Calculations assume that half of the RMSE is random error and half is systematic error. For a discussion of these calculations, see the EPA report

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Coastal elevations and more

More Sea Level Rise Maps

EPA estimates of the Area of Dry Land Close to Sea Level in North Carolina