Category:Sea-Level Rise & Mitigation

Billionaires Charles and David Koch have helped to fuel conservative activism in Florida, by spending millions over the years to establish elaborate political operations in the state. As a result, Florida has become something of a testing ground for anti-government campaigning from the Kochs’ primary group, Americans for Prosperity. A New York Times story last March noted that AFP used a special election for a House seat and “turned the Florida contest into its personal electoral laboratory to fine-tune get-out-the-vote tools and messaging for future elections as it pursues its overarching goal of convincing Americans that big government is bad government.” David Jolly, AFP’s candidate of choice, won that election. Like many of his Florida colleagues, Jolly said he doesn’t think “the impact that humans have had on our climate is so dramatic” that it warrants government action...

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Miami Could Be a New Atlantis - from a Dutch engineer point of view

“If we look around the world and take into account sea level rise and the increase of water related disasters, among the places in the world that have the most assets and investments at risk, Miami is leading that list,” Henry Ovink tells New Times. “Miami will no longer be a land city, but a city in the sea.” Last year, a New York Times Magazine article about Ovink and Dutch water management efforts showed just how behind the U.S. is in its thinking around water.

Miami is Sinking Already Under Rising Sea Levels

At the University of Miami’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Brian McNoldy and other researchers have been accumulating sea-level data from Virginia Key (a small island just south of Miami Beach) since 1996. Over those 19 years, sea levels around the Miami coast have already gone up 3.7 inches. In a post, McNoldy highlights three big problems that follow from those numbers...

Head in Sand / Mar 2015 Florida Officials Say They Were Banned From Saying 'Climate Change' and 'Global Warming'

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Karst formation/underground will have added impact on sea-level rise/salt water intursion in Florida

Re: Florida topography: Karst topography is the geological name given to an area of limestone bedrock featuring caves, sinkholes, underground streams and natural springs (Florida has one of the highest concentrations of springs on Earth). In laymen terms, karst topography is anywhere the lower levels of the soil horizon has been dissolved by the physical or chemical weathering of the bedrock. These environments are comprised of carbonate rocks, such as dolomite and limestone, or having high amounts of evaporites, for example, salt and gypsum, as these materials tend to be highly soluble in water. Having these conditions within humid climate like Florida invites faster weathering. Another erosion accelerator is groundwater mixed with vegetation creates a weak acid that dissolves the limestone. (think baking soda mixing with vinegar) Over time, cracks become caves, and when caves collapse they form exposed openings known as karst windows.

Rising seas/climate change will have a special impact on FL due to the underground systems -- saltwater intrusion will be and already is an issue.....

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Read more on Florida risks:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2015/05/10/sea-rise-threatens-florida-coast-but-statewide-plan/QMdrryJGQKQz6m49kKZsDN/story.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-03-08/florida-officials-say-they-were-banned-from-saying-climate-change-and-global-warming-

http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/03/09/us-usa-florida-climatechange-idINKBN0M51P520150309

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article12983720.html

http://mashable.com/2015/03/09/florida-bans-global-warming/

http://qz.com/358675/floridas-authorities-want-to-wish-climate-change-away/

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2015/0309/Can-Florida-prepare-for-climate-change-without-saying-the-words

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/09/florida-state-most-affected-by-climate-change-reportedly-bans-term-climate-change/

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/03/florida-climate-change

http://www.citylab.com/weather/2015/03/why-its-so-dangerous-that-floridas-governor-banned-the-term-climate-change/387226/

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/09/florida-quietly-bans-the-words-climate-change-in-environmental-protection-docs.html

http://www.salon.com/2015/03/09/the_term_climate_change_is_reportedly_banned_in_florida/

http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/09/rick-scott-climate-change-denial-in-florida/

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/08/florida-banned-terms-climate-change-global-warming

http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/03/report-officials-at-florida-environment-office-told-not-to-say-climate-change/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/politics/florida-officials-climate-change-banned/

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Florida International University Researchers Tackle Sea Level Rise

Rising seas in South Florida, PBS-2014 - South Florida Rising Seas - PBS

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Big Energy companies in Florida look to "gut energy savings goals"

In Florida, fossil fuel energy co's have their way in a pro-fossil fueled legis and w/ the gov. Today we read the energy co's are officially against renewables, incl solar in the "Sunshine State", claiming to the PSC that energy 'savings' are bad (for them) and then there's the 'if they can't grow, they'll die' argument (so pay more, use more, pollute more, greenhouse more, sea rise more, not to worry, bigger better, more better.) What's wrong w/ this picture?

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Scientists petition the governor

Southeast Florida Climate Compact

Adaptation action-ICLEI model

Resiliency against sea-level rise

NASA study of Southeast Florida Vulnerability to Sea-Level Rise

Florida and the Surging Seas, a Vulnerability Assessment

Miami in Deep

South Florida Faces Ominous Prospects from Rising Waters / NYT

Rising Seas: South Florida, Inching toward Disaster

Florida - Impact of Sea Level Rise on Energy and Water

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A 2014 report released by the research and journalism group Climate Central found that 2,120 square miles of land lie less than 3 feet above the high tide line in Florida. That means 300,000 homes, or around $145 billion in property value, are at risk.... Climate Central found that $71 billion of Florida property sits on land less than two feet above the high tide line.

http://sealevel.climatecentral.org/uploads/ssrf/FL-Report.pdf

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California

Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Study - City of Los Angeles

Over the next century, sea level rise in the Los Angeles (L.A.) region is expected to match global projections with an increase of 0.1 - 0.6 m (5 - 24 inches) from 2000 to 2050 and 0.4 - 1.7 m (17 - 66 inches) from 2000 to 2100. [1]

Los Angeles critical coastal infrastructure at the Port of Los Angeles (Port) is approximately 10 ft above sea level. Under current conditions, some of this infrastructure is vulnerable to flooding during high tide events and severe storms. This flooding is expected to worsen as sea level rise contributes to increased total water levels. The Port is among the busiest in the world, contributing more than $63 billion to the State of California, and more than $260 billion to the U.S. economy. More than 40% of all imports arriving in the U.S. comes through the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where it is loaded onto trucks and trains for overland shipping (Port of Los Angeles 2012)... [2]

San Diego - http://www.icleiusa.org/climate_and_energy/Climate_Adaptation_Guidance/san-diego-bay-sea-level-rise-adaptation-strategy-1

California regional - http://climate.calcommons.org/article/regional-strategies-sea-level-rise-adaptation

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New York City

Post Superstorm Sandy, estimated $29 Billion plan sets stage for future [3] Mayor's Plan to Protect NYC A Stronger, More Resilient New York [4] Superstorm barrier for New York - June 4, 2014 13 Mile Long Levee at tip of Manhattan

In a settlement that could have far-reaching implications nationwide, New York’s largest utility is now responsible for preparing for a future of extreme weather, including the impacts of climate change. June 5, 2014 [5]

NY/NJ Sea Rise Assessment 2013

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U.S.

Ways Cities are Preparing for Sea-Level Rise

"Global sea-level rise (SLR) trends provide valuable evidence in preparing for future environmental change" explains a 2012 US NOAA report which goes on to say aside from this report, there is currently no coordinated, interagency effort in the US to identify agreed upon global mean SLR estimates for the purpose of coastal planning, policy, and management. -- Scenarios/NOAA/Nov 2012

Soon after this acknowledgment of a systemic lack of coordinated, interagency planning, a follow-on assessment is issued by "twelve contributing authors" from "ten different federal and academic science institutions." NOAA/Dec 2012

"A new sea level rise scenarios report has been released by NOAA's Climate Program Office in collaboration with twelve contributing authors from ten different federal and academic science institutions. The report, produced in response to a request from the U.S. National Climate Assessment Development and Advisory Committee, provides a synthesis of the scientific literature on global sea level rise, and a set of four scenarios of future global sea level rise." Global Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States National Climate Assessment

US Pentagon Prepares for Climate Change

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Global

Dire Warnings from James Hansen

Sea level rise over 6000 yrs

US Gov initiates global climate change inter-agency coordination/risk assessment -- Global Change News and Updates

- Earth Imaging -- The Antarctic: Big Melt Accelerates

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via New Zealand Herald/Science

Sept 2015

"Climate Change, the Fate of Antarctica and Global Sea-level Rise"

New evidence suggesting a behemoth "sleeping giant" ice sheet is more sensitive to climate change than ever thought... the ice sheet, which forms most of Antarctica, would contribute an equivalent of around 50 metres of sea level rise - the vast majority of the total 58 metres that could come from the frozen continent.

The part of the ice sheet that rests on bedrock below sea level is most vulnerable and holds an equivalent of 19 metres of sea level rise.

In the face of climate change, which has brought warmer ocean water to the edges of Antarctica, the vast ice sheet has been long regarded by scientists to be much more stable when compared with the smaller, 25 million square kilometre West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which satellite measurements estimated was losing more than 150 cubic kilometres of ice each year.

But an Australian expedition that managed to reach the typically inaccessible Totten Glacier in East Antarctica in January revealed some of the first direct evidence that warmer waters were having a significant impact...

"In general, all of the evidence we have from the ice, from the atmosphere, and from the top to the bottom of oceans, is that the Southern Ocean is having an impact on Antarctica and an impact on our climate.

"The evidence is just becoming more and more clear that change is underway - and work by my colleagues all around the world is showing these changes are a result of human activity. It's not just a natural cycle we are seeing."

Dr Stephen Rintoul has led 12 expeditions to Antarctica and coordinated the major international Southern Ocean climate research programmes conducted over the past 25 years...

The new findings link in with what is another big part of Dr Rintoul's work - the role of oceans in climate change.

"One of the things that many people don't realise is that, in a sense, global warming is ocean warming - more than 93 per cent of the extra heat that's been stored by the planet over the last 50 years is found in the oceans.

"So that means if we want to understand how the climate is evolving and how the climate is changing, we need to be tracking and understanding what's happening in the oceans..."

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August 2015

Glaciologist Eric Rignot of the UC-Irvine and NASA’s JPL and lead author of a West Antarctic study, stated that East Antarctica’s ice sheet remains a wildcard.

“The prevailing view among specialists has been that East Antarctica is stable, but we don’t really know,” Rignot stated. “Some of the signs we see in the satellite data right now are red flags that these glaciers might not be as stable as we once thought.”

Exactly how much rise will happen and when is uncertain, they say. “We’ve seen from the paleoclimate record that sea level rise of as much as 10 feet in a century or two is possible, if the ice sheets fall apart rapidly,” said Tom Wagner, the cryosphere program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re seeing evidence that the ice sheets are waking up, but we need to understand them better before we can say we’re in a new era of rapid ice loss.”

Rising Sea Level Threat: Glaciers 'Beyond the Point of No Return'

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Resilient Strategies for responding to sea-level rise

Resilient Cities - Resilient Communities

Integrating Best Practices into Planning

"With identification of risks inherent in the forces of nature, government acquires responsibilities to address those risks..."

Sea-level rise mitigation policies

Disaster Preparedness/FEMA - PDF

http://www.iclei.org/details/article/how-to-raise-funding-to-build-protection-walls-against-sea-level-rise.html

Adaptation Library

http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/iclei-partners-summarize-implications-of-ar5-findings-for-cities/

http://www.asian-cities-adapt.org/fileadmin/files/Policy_Pointer/Policy_Pointer_Sea-level_Final.pdf

http://www.resilientafrica.org/Resources/Final%20Resources/ICLEI%20Africa_5%20City%20Adaptation%20Network_Walvis%20Bay%20Downscaled%20Climate%20Report.pdf

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Against the Tide book by Cornelia Dean

[From Publishers Weekly]

An eloquent, forceful plea to save America's rapidly eroding beaches and coastline, this revelatory and disturbing report from the science editor of the New York Times is reminiscent of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring...

[Review] Castles built on sand are doomed, they say. But in our hunger for an ocean view from the living-room window, we keep building things we expect to last on beaches that never stay still. In Against the Tide, Cornelia Dean, science editor of The New York Times, outlines the global coastal management crisis and all the elaborate engineering methods developed to stave off erosion--revetments, sand-trapping devices, seawalls, groins and jetties, even artificial seaweed beds. In clear, journalistic style, she explains how all of these devices have failed to stop the inexorable march of the sea...

From the motels and T-shirt shops of beachless Florida "beach towns" to Los Angeles County, most of whose beaches are artificial, the story Dean tells is the same. People build on unstable landforms, then attempt to avoid the inevitable consequences through quick technological fixes: concrete seawalls, artificial reefs, sand-trapping steel groins, jetties, underground "dewatering" systems of pipes and pumps, etc. These techno-fixes may prolong the life of coastal buildings, but they usually accelerate erosion and environmental degradation...

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