By 2050, more than 3,500 structures on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket may be impacted by storm flooding and persistent erosion threatens to severely damage nearly 800 structures and shorelines, according to The Trustees’ 2nd annual State of the Coast Report for Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. As the affects of climate change become more apparent, changing sea levels have been affecting human activities in many of the coastal areas in Dukes County. Rising sea level inundates low-lying wetlands and dry land, and increases the flow of salt water into estuaries and nearby ground water aquifers. Higher sea level also makes coastal infrastructure more vulnerable to damage from storms.