The news is harsh. We have a cycle of hard news on the economy, wars, neocons, and climate change. That's just for starts.
As we learn about the extent of climate change, the sober and serious quality sets in.
The Arctic may soon be ice free, Greenland is melting, and the Antarctic is melting. This is still only part of the change.
Guardian UK: World's largest ice sheet melting faster than expected
"If the current trend continues or gets worse, Antarctica could become the largest contributor to sea level rises in the world. It could start to lose more ice than Greenland within a few years..."
7 comments:
We must be on the same page. I was just finishing Dr. Orrin Pilkey's new book "The Rising Sea" which is all about the global melt down and its attendant sea rise. He predicts a 20 ft. rise by 2100. This would mean the end of Coastal America as we know it today. As an example such a rise would mean almost all of southern Fla. would be under water and almost all the major east coast cities and barrier islands would be gone as well.
I hope he's wrong. It sounds like unparalleled calamity.
Orrin is the dean of American Coastal geologists and has 40 yrs. + experience. I wouldn't bet against him. The prognosis for all the world's coasts is dire. The scale of this catastrophe is beyond anything civilization has ever encountered and once it starts there is no stopping it. Our children and grandkids will wonder why we didn't act to stop what will look to them as something that should have been obvious.
Okay, that's very distressing information.
Are you aware of any changes on the coast?
Yes, changes are happening already! I've noticed over the course of the last 40 yrs. the narrowing of many beaches and the increased flooding of the bays over time. The problem is that the rate fits the famous frog in a pot of very slowly boiling water analogy. By the time he realizes he's boiling to death he can no longer jump out! I'm afraid that what will happen is billions will be tossed into a hopeless defense of coastal beaches , but in the end we'll be forced to move back anyway. A good example is what happened to the famous Cape Hatteras light house in the 90's. The Parks dept. spent millions trying to defend it from storms but eventually abandoned this attempt and had to spend millions more to move it back over 1,000 ft. from the beach. Had they listened to Pilkey and others earlier they would have been able to spend a small % of what they ended up spending and having to move it anyway. I think this is exactly what we can expect happening. The reason is simple ,the wealthy and the powerful ( same crowd) own almost 100% of the beach front property and they will expect ( demand) that their 2nd homes be protected by everyone else. You can bet the pols will do just that , in fact it's happening today , every day. Billions are being tossed into the Rising Sea to try and stabilize the coast and it's essentially a losing proposition, but very very profitable. Sound familiar?
Is this going to affect your house or are you in a higher elevation?
No, I live in the middle of the Island at 15' of elevation. In the long run though , everyone near the coast will be greatly effected as the Sea rises and rises and rises. Sea rise will go on for hundreds of years its as they say a lagging indicator. This is the last century for the present coast line for a very very long time no matter how much greenhouse gas is removed now.
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