Maine’s iconic lighthouses face urgent threats from climate change, rising sea levels 

PORTLAND (WGME) — Maine’s lighthouses are under a dire threat from significant coastal storms and sea level rise due to climate change.The World Monuments Fund named Maine’s lighthouses one of 25 sites on the 2025 World Monuments Watch.“According to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, the Gulf of Maine is warming faster than 99 percent of the world’s oceans. This means higher sea levels and stronger storm surge.” “The impact is now and it has continued to happen, so we nominated Maine lighthouses to kind of raise the alarm and see what we can do to prevent damage and adapt to these lighthouses for the new reality of climate change,” Maine Preservation Programs and Services Director Brad Miller said.Miller says about a year ago, a pair of January storms caused upwards of $5.5 million in damage to Maine’s lighthouses.“Government agencies, local governments, the State of Maine, private individuals and primarily non-profits took ownership in the management of these lighthouses,” Miller said. “So, all those different owners can access different funds to help preserve, maintain and also repair those buildings.”It’s more than just restoring the lighthouses. The docks, support buildings, solar arrays and more need to be repaired in some cases and then reviewed by the State of Maine and FEMA for recovery funds.“I lived here for a while but the first place I came down was to see the lighthouse again, because it’s such an iconic place and definitely whenever you think of Maine, the first thing that pops up are the lighthouses, so you definitely have to preserve them,” Portland Headlight visitor Skyler Hong said.“I live nearby, and so I’m able to take a quick walk and be here out in the open with lots of fresh air. I was just looking out into the expanse, so it’s the view of the headlight, but it’s also being on the open ocean,” Portland Headlight visitor Gina Dossantos said.Maine Preservation is partnering with the American Lighthouse Foundation to help those who own the lighthouses get the resources they need to repair the damage from previous storms and help prepare for the next.