Higher Ground: Among the Rampikes

When sea level rises, saltwater begins to encroach deeper inland. Those that have the means move to higher ground to survive. 

A small point in the Narragansett Bay near Providence, Rhode Island tells the story of ecological gentrification and those that have not survived. Black Tupelo trees, the low lying tree species that provided fruit for thousands of years to early Wampanoag and Narragansett people are now rampikes that stand like skeletons in the marsh. 

Rampike (n): an erect broken or dead tree

The trees, dead from saltwater encroaching into the freshwater table, are a casualty of sea-level rise.  Species capable of retreating inland and away from the encroaching seawater, like the migratory scarlet tanager that roosts in the tupelo may survive. 

Gentrification, of both ecological and human variety, favor those with the ability and means to move to suitable conditions. Trees on the coast are left behind to the changing seas much like people with few resources are left behind in our coastal cities as others relocate. 

Climate gentrification is climate conflict an is already widening the gap between rich and poor across the globe and here in the United States.