(NORTH CAROLINA NEWS NETWOK) — Hurricane season is here, and experts are already predicting above-average storm activity. But it’s not the increasing frequency of storms that are causing environmentalists to be concerned. That was largely expected. It’s the increasing rainfall that’s being brought farther inland that is making experts worried about our coastal waterways. Hans Paerl, an environmental studies professor at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, tells WITN they’re worried about nutrients in the coastal zone, especially when storms stall and turn into “rain machines.”  The increased frequency has been largely expected, experts say, because of the cyclical nature of hurricane activity, but it’s still Paerl’s biggest concern for ecosystems along coastal North Carolina.