Thread: U.S. Can Learn from Florida Climate Change Response

1. Explore in depth (77 more articles)
2. Rising sea levels will be too much, too fast for Florida
   
   Raw Story-May 28, 2014
   The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) published its assessment of sea level rise in 2012 as part of the National ...
   
3. Latino Scientists, City Managers Sound Alarm on Miami's Rising Seas
   
   NBCNews.com-3 hours ago
   ... Florida International University's Southeast Environmental Research Center, is so concerned about the rising sea level around Miami Beach, ...
   
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4. 
   MarineLink
   NJ quite vulnerable to sea-level rise, storms
   
   Asbury Park Press-by Todd B. Bates-20 hours ago
   Storm impacts such as coastal flooding are expected to worsen as thesea level rises, according to the National Climate Assessment. To show ...
   
5. Marshfield focuses on sea level rise through public forum
   
   Wicked Local Marshfield-22 hours ago
   A second forum on sea level rise will be held Tuesday, June 3 from 7 to 9 p.m. ... Betty Mulroy, CAC chairwoman, spoke of how rising sea levels ...
   
6. Moreton Bay Regional Council takes 'safe option' on rising sea levels
   
   Courier Mail-2 hours ago
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7. Should we try to fight rising sea levels — or abandon the coasts?
   
   Vox-May 22, 2014
   The world's sea levels are expected to rise 1 to 3 feet — or more — as the planet heats up in the coming century. The more greenhouse gases ...
   
8. Worried About Floods Due to Rising Sea Level? Forget It: Not ...
   
   Power Line (blog)-May 22, 2014
   It is commonly asserted that sea level will rise at least three feet by the end of the century. Put aside whether the Earth actually will warm and ...
   
   Why losing glaciers matters
   Blog-CBC.ca (blog)-May 23, 2014Explore in depth (33 more articles)
9. 
   Jet Propulsion Laboratory
   Greenland glacial melt is growing factor in rising sea levels
   
   Al Jazeera America-May 18, 2014
   Greenland's glaciers are far more vulnerable to climate-change-induced warming oceans than previously thought, according to a report ...
   
   Greenland will be far greater contributor to sea rise than expected
   Highly Cited-EurekAlert (press release)-May 18, 2014Explore in depth (93 more articles)
10. West Antarctica Glaciers Collapsing, Adding to Sea-Level Rise
    
    National Geographic-by Clark Howard-May 12, 2014
    "This retreat will have major implications for sea-level rise worldwide," said Eric Rignot, a UC-Irvine Earth science professor and lead author of ...
    
    Man-Made Global Warming's Destruction Now a Certainty
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11. Explore in depth (619 more articles)

Antarctic Ice Sheet could contribute to rapid sea level rise, say scientists

Christian Science Monitor

- ‎3 hours ago‎

Antarctica's melting glaciers launched so many icebergs into the ocean 14,600 years ago that sea level rose 6.5 feet (2 meters) in just 100 years, a new study reports...

Delray Beach forms sea level rise task force

By Marisa Gottesman, Sun Sentinel
1:22 p.m. EDT, June 19, 2014

Worried that rising sea levels could eventually inundate parts of Delray, a citizens group is hunting for ways to protect the city and its coastline.

The group, called the Delray Beach Rising Waters Task Force, is also concerned with more immediate issues, like flooding rains and storm surges, in addition to the predicted problems that could come with rising sea water.

At a meeting Wednesday attended by about 25 people, the group heard expert projections that show sea levels will rise another 3 to 7 inches by 2030 and 9 to 24 inches by 2060 – potentially destructive for almost all of coastal South Florida.

To prepare, the group plans on bringing suggestions to city commissioners aimed at heading off the coming problems.

First on the group's to do list is creating an "inlet to inlet information packet." They are working on securing an outside grant to print the publication, which will let people know what types of problems the stretch of coastal communities from Boca's inlet to Boynton's inlet are facing.

Task force member Bob Ganger said it is important to make sure people realize it is their safety, property values and quality of life that will be affected by sea level rise.

"We don't want to scare the pants off people without solutions," he said.

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Photos: Celebrities who served in the military

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The advocacy group listened to sea level rise expert Chris Bergh on Wednesday night. He gave the group ideas for protecting Delray in a presentation called "The Sky is Not Falling, but the Sea is Rising."

He said Delray has been successful in protecting the city through its ongoing beach re-nourishment projects and urges the city to continue them.

"Beach re-nourishment is a sea level rise adaptation strategy," Bergh said. "Your dune system has been very well managed and restored."

The group will meet again on July 2 at 9 a.m. For more information or to join, contact Nancy Schneider at 305-720-4464

ornschneider2015@yahoo.com.
mgottesman@tribune.com, 561-243-6544 or Twitter @marisagottesman

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/pal...,6952447.story

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Grand Jury warns SF to prepare for rising seas
San Francisco Bay Guardian
“Rising Sea Levels...At our Doorstep” assessed recognition and preparedness in a city where projections by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and ...

New report evaluates progress of comprehensive everglades restoration plan
Phys.Org
Sea-level rise has already increased saltwater intrusion into Everglades freshwater habitats and urban water supplies, and potential future changes in ...

Everglades Restoration needed in face of sea level rise The News-Press But water-quality scientists, hydrologists and planners say restoring the Everglades, in some ways, is even more important when sea level rise and ...

Pensacola considers climate change task force

T.S. Strickland, Staff Writer 8:42 p.m. CDT July 16, 2014

As local officials hatch plans to rebuild the area’s battered infrastructure in the wake of April’s historic flooding, many are calling on them to prepare for a future in which such disasters might be more commonplace.

Local environmental scientist Christian Wagley is one of those people. Wagley, along with other members of local climate action group 350 Pensacola, are lobbying the Pensacola City Council to create a task force to help the city plan for rising sea levels and more severe weather.

Wagley said the idea, if implemented, would be a huge step forward for the region.

“The case for action is just overwhelming,” he said. “Sea level rise is well underway, slowly drowning low-lying coastal areas. And that rise in sea level is predicted to accelerate.”

Wagley noted the recently released National Climate Assessment predicted longer and hotter summers for the region, stress on agricultural resources, more disease-causing organisms in coastal waters, declining air quality and other impacts from climate change.

Laura Geselbracht, senior marine scientist with the Florida Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, delivered similarly dire predictions.

The scientist, whose recent work has focused on the effect of rising sea levels on coastal habitats, said the most recent projections indicated water could rise by 2 to 6.5 feet by 2100. That reality could have wide-reaching implications for low-lying communities like Pensacola.

“Not only will low-lying areas flood more frequently, but citizens and properties will be more vulnerable to storm surge impacts,” Geselbracht said. “Properties in the lowest lying areas may lose value over time and insurability may decline.”

Geselbracht added now was the time for area officials to begin planning.

“Preparation should begin immediately,” she said. “Not only will early preparation help the city grow in the right direction, early preparation will result in avoiding some of the high cost of retrofitting.”

Pensacola City Councilwoman Sherri Myers — who is pushing the task force idea — agreed the time to act is now, while the memory of April’s flooding was still fresh. She added the city was in a good position to leverage financial resources from the BP oil spill and the pending renewal of the 1-cent local option sales tax.

“We have to come up with a strategic plan to address these problems now because it’s going to take a lot of money,” Myers said.

The task force concept received an initial airing at an agenda conference Monday, where it summarily was rejected by council members who said they needed more information and input from other local governments before allowing the proposal to proceed to a vote.

Myers said she intends to resurrect the issue later this summer.

Advocates are hopeful it will be greeted more favorably the next time around.

“We can adapt our buildings, neighborhoods, farms, and infrastructure to the coming changes, but only if we plan for them rather than ignore them,” Wagley said.

Want to learn more?

The group 350 Pensacola will host a walking tour this Saturday to explore how cities can adapt to higher temperatures and heavier rainfall.

The walk, led by Wagley, will start at 4 p.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza, on Palafox Place, in Pensacola.

Then, on August 19, 350 Pensacola will host Patsy Parker, Mayor of Perdido Beach, Ala., to speak about her service on Pres. Barack Obama’s Climate Change Task Force and the ways in which her town is preparing for climate change. The talk will begin at 7 p.m. at End of the Line Café, located at 610 E. Wright Street.

http://www.pnj.com/story/news/2014/0...orce/12764559/

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Fighting Va. flooding linked to rising seas will be complicated, costly

Posted: Wednesday, July 23, 2014 11:13 am
Rex Springston | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Col. Paul B. Olsen, commander of the Army Corps of Engineers’ Norfolk District, showed a slide of Holland Island.

The once-populated spot in the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland is now abandoned, the victim of rising sea levels and flooding.


“As Holland was, Tangier (Island) is, and Hampton Roads will be,” Olsen said, making a grave assessment for low-lying parts of Virginia.

Olsen and others spoke at the General Assembly Building Tuesday during the first meeting of a legislative panel studying recurrent flooding in coastal Virginia.

The theme that emerged during the meeting is that flooding linked to rising seas is dangerous, complicated and hugely expensive to address.

“There is no doubt that Virginia is at significant risk for property damage and loss of life from flooding,” said Del. Chris Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, summarizing what he learned at another meeting on rising seas. “We know we have a problem; we have studied it thoroughly, and it is time to take action.”

Stolle teamed this year with Sen. Mamie E. Locke, D-Hampton, on a resolution to create the study panel. Stolle was elected the group’s chairman Tuesday.

Virginia has become a hotbed of concern over rising seas, flooding and climate change.

In addition to the study panel, a group called the Secure Commonwealth Panel is working to advise Gov. Terry McAuliffe on flooding and other issues, and McAuliffe has created a climate-change commission to explore ways to address global warming.

Rising seas and coastal flooding pose threats to waterfront development, historic areas like Jamestown, lots of communities in lots of localities, and military bases like Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval base.

Potential options include restoring beaches, building floodwalls, abandoning some flood-prone areas and barring people from building near some waterways in the first place.

Bryan Pennington, director of intergovernmental relations for Norfolk, said in an interview that his city alone faces nearly $1 billion in potential costs for such things as beach restoration, flood gates and pumps.

With so many other localities at risk, the price tag would surely run into billions more, Pennington said.

Pennington would like the General Assembly to authorize a governmental authority in southeastern Virginia that could raise money, perhaps by issuing bonds and seeking grants.

“We need for decisions to be made at the regional level by our designated regional leaders,” Pennington said.

So far, localities have been working as “free agents” seeking federal grants, he said.

Flooding, during storms big and small, is an increasing problem in coastal Virginia. The main cause is rising seas, and seas are rising at least partly because of global warming, experts say. Among other effects, warming water expands.

In Virginia, sea levels are rising faster than the global average because the land is sinking, primarily from natural causes.

To make things worse, there’s evidence that sea levels will rise faster and faster in coming decades. If current trends hold, scientists project Virginia’s waters could go up 1.5 feet in 20 to 50 years and 5 feet or more by 2100.

http://www.roanoke.com/news/virginia...1ff3d2f46.html