Rockport, MA Coastal Erosion Rate
Is the coast eroding 2.3 miles southwest of Rockport, MA?
The coast 2.3 miles southwest of Rockport, MA shows no statistically significant trend either way. USGS's transects measured a rate here, but it's smaller than the survey's own margin of error for this stretch, so calling it "eroding" or "growing" would overstate what the data actually shows.
What "Rockport" means on this page
Nothing here is parcel-level. USGS's raw transects run every few hundred feet along the shore; this page averages the ones nearest Rockport, MA into one ~3.5-mile reading rather than picking a single arbitrary line to represent the area. Centered near 42.61°N, 70.64°W. Survey years: 2007-2009, method LRR, from USGS's New England / Mid-Atlantic shoreline-change assessment. That's how current the data is here, real, but not a live feed, since a shoreline survey is a major undertaking, not an annual check-in.
Where this fits nationally
22 transects feed this segment's number; 68% of them individually measured retreat. Uncertainty on this specific number: 0.38 ft/yr either side. Taken at face value, this segment's raw -0.11 ft/yr reading would land it 632 of 1211 nationally - a number worth ignoring, since it's statistical noise rather than a real trend. Source: USGS Open-File Report 2010-1119. Rank 1194 nationally for growth belongs to Point Lookout, NY, 205 miles from this stretch, measured at 4.23 ft/yr. Rockport, MA, 2.1 miles off, is the adjacent measured stretch, reading slight erosion at 0.35 ft/yr.
Rockport, MA on the source map: try the Coastal Change Hazards Portal, zoomable well past this page's ~3.5-mile grain.