Cape Ann
Compound Vulnerabilities

Changes During the Storm

Cape Ann is defined by its picturesque landscapes and connection to the ocean. The effects of climate change, including rising seawaters, increasing temperatures, decreasing precipitation and brush fires, are already changing the relationship between residents and the natural environment. Public infrastructure, businesses and homes are also at risk.

These long-term changes are gradual, and can be imperceptible. Sea level, for example, has risen about 0.15 inches per year along the Atlantic Coast for the past century. Other changes, like large coastal storms, are abrupt, and bring immediate changes.

A Category 3 hurricane will change Cape Ann’s land and seascapes in hours.

The Great Storm ›

Cape Ann: Compound Vulnerabilities is led by Kira Clingen and Charles Waldheim with essential contributions by Celina Abba, Christopher Ball, Aziz Barbar, Fabiana Casale, Charlie Gaillard, Raveena John, Slide Kelly, Angela Moreno-Long, Nono Martínez Alonso, and Arty Vartanyan. The project is advised by Jill Desimini, Gareth Doherty, Rosetta Elkin, Andrew Fox, Jerold Kayden, Jesse Keenan, David Moreno Mateos, Rick Peiser, Chris Reed, Maggie Tsang, and Amy Whitesides. The project is informed by collaborations with the Harvard GSD Critical Landscapes Design Lab, the Woods Hole Group, NOAA, and Limnotech, and is made possible by the generous support of the Cape Ann Climate Coalition, the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and the City of Gloucester.

Cape Ann already faces ongoing challenges attributed to climate change that will dramatically shape its future. The region’s landscapes are valuable assets, yet they lack the capacity to withstand and recover from disturbances while maintaining essential function, also known as ecological resilience. Cape Ann’s landscapes have been degraded by harmful human interventions and escalating climate pressures beyond their ability to adapt and thrive. Deliberate actions are required to support ecosystems that accommodate human activity to ensure ecological resilience.

Regenerative Landscapes: Beyond Conservation to Adaptation investigates the current and potential future conditions of Cape Ann’s valuable landscapes. These landscapes comprise ecosystems and infrastructures, from saltmarshes and eelgrass beds to temperate forests and cultivated agricultural lands, among many others. They support the biodiversity, economic vitality, and unique character of Cape Ann.

Regenerative Landscapes proposes a series of initiatives that pursue ecological restoration and climate adaptation to achieve balance between ecosystem resilience and human activity. With meaningful action, the region’s ecosystems will effectively contribute to flood protection, carbon sequestration, increased biodiversity, reduced urban heat island, public health, and more. The historic identity and future potential for Cape Ann are embedded in and dependent on these Regenerative Landscapes.

The project is organized around four landscape ecologies: interconnected networks of ecosystems, habitats, and organisms within a specific area. Each landscape is composed of Cape Ann’s primary ecosystems: Beach Landscapes (Coastal and Marine Ecosystems), Marsh Landscapes (Estuary, Saltmarsh, and Tidal Flat Ecosystems), Forest Landscapes (Maritime Forest, Deciduous Forest, and Coniferous Forest Ecosystems), and Downtown Landscapes (Impervious Surfaces and Buildings). Additionally, the project explores three landscape infrastructures or physical and organizational networks that support human activities and impact a specific area.