Long-Range Ice Forecast: Things Could Get Very Grim
The best guess now is that a worst-case rise of 2 feet is no longer in the cards. The likely increase in sea level by 2100 now stands at 3 feet, with worst-case scenarios going as high as 6 feet. Three feet would threaten many coastal cities around the world with frequent, powerful floods, as the mildest of storms could send water coursing through … Read More
The Supermoon is Coming! Do Not Panic!
In once sense, the astronomical event that happens this Saturday, May 5, is unexceptional: it’s the full moon, which happens every 29 days or so. This month, however, is a little bit unusual. We’re being treated to a so-called “Supermoon,” scheduled to make its appearance on Saturday night (exactly when depends on where you live: the U.S. Naval … Read More
Why Groundwater is Another Sea Level Rise Concern
Since the 1960s, sea level has risen by about 0.38 feet, at a rate of about .008 feet per year, at Bridgeport, CT, about 20 miles southwest of New Haven. Because the land in this area is slowly sinking at the same time the sea is rising, the amount of local sea level rise is expected to be greater here than in some other parts of the country.… Read More
After Fukushima Nuclear Crisis, U.S. Flying Blind
There are reasons to fear that a similar scenario is playing out in the U.S., but here the most serious threat comes from sea level rise and the increasing dangers that storm-driven waves will overcome the flood defenses of coastal nuclear plants, and coastal energy facilities in general.… Read More
Image of the Day: Islands Monitored for Climate Change
Scientists have selected about 30 islands in the Mediterranean, including Port-Cros National Park in France, as biodiversity hotspots and locations for climate change monitoring work. France's Coastal Conservation Agency is behind the project that calls for monitoring the islands for between five to 20 years.… Read More
42 Years Later, Do We Suffer Green Fatigue on Earth Day?
I don’t remember all that much about the very first Earth Day, which happened 42 years ago, on April 22, 1970. I was a junior in high school at the time, and my youthful outrage, such as it was, was focused more on ending the Vietnam War than on saving the environment. Just 10 days later, Richard Nixon would push the Vietnam protests over the top … Read More
If A Tree Falls in the Senate, Will Anyone Hear Sea Rise?
If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, goes the question pondered by generations of college sophomores late at night, does it make a sound? Despite the noble intentions of Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) in holding a hearing on sea level rise this week, the same question, only slightly modified, applies. Bingaman brought in five experts … Read More
Image of the Day: NASA Goes with the Floe
As these ice floes push against each other, smaller floes can form that are moved by wind and currents. At the center of the image lies ice floe patterns caused by circular eddy currents that spin off from the main Kamchatka current.… Read More
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