By Alex Nunes — The summer beach season is here, but the beaches themselves look very different this year. Coastal communities are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair shoreline damage from last winter’s severe storms. The damage is a warning sign to Rhode Island of the tough road ahead as climate-related sea level rise and increasingly heavy storms continue to swallow up the beaches.

By Antonia Noori Farzan — The South Kingstown man just wanted some exercise with an ocean view. But seawalls, "no trespassing" signs and other barriers often block the way.