With the largest estuarine system on the U.S. Atlantic coast, an extensive barrier island chain, and more than 2,300 square miles of vulnerable land, the state of North Carolina risks losing trillions of dollars in assets to rising sea levels. In 2009, we began collaborating with the Geospatial and Technology Management Office of the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management to kick off the North Carolina Sea Level Rise Risk Management Study, which will identify potential impacts related to sea level rise, coastal flooding, and erosion for 20 coastal counties in North Carolina.