Sea Level Rise
This is a new page, so check also Arctic, and Global Warming, Water and related pages. Dynamic map
Overviews
The basics, good overviews and intros to various green topics from Grist, such as Keystone XL pipeline, sea level rise and Geo-engineering, as well as ocean acidification (more on acidification and coral.
An important concept is adaptation or mitigation, how we are going to cope with Climate Change, for example : 6 cities' plans.
Stories/Reports
Sources
Climate Central includes interactive map.
The Pacific Institute is an excellent resource on water issues, especially California sea level rise.
Stories
Sea levels set to keep rising for centuries even if emissions targets met 1119.
Researchers Warn Arctic Has Entered 'Unprecedented State' That Threatens Global Climate Stability 4/19
Melting Glaciers Causing 25 to 30% of Sea Level Rise 4/19.
Greenland Melting Is ‘Off the Charts’ 12/18.
Like Game of Thrones? You'll Love Game of Floods: California, 2050. Doomed island dwellers face imminent climate disaster. What would Daenerys do? 11/17.
Here's How the Rising Sea Will Remake the Coastlines of Endangered U.S. States and Drown Much of the World We Know :The rising seas are caused by the additional water coming from melting land ice, as well as the expansion of seawater, which happens when it warms. Since reliable record keeping began in 1880, the global sea level has risen by approximately 8 inches. Scientists project that by 2100, the ocean may rise an additional 1 to 4 feet. And it won't stop there, says NASA, "because the oceans take a very long time to respond to warmer conditions at the Earth’s surface."
Rising Seas Are Flooding Virginia’s Naval Base, and There’s No Plan to Fix It 10/17.
Making matters worse, storm surges from an increase in extreme weather—again, a product of manmade climate change—will likely increase flooding in regions already impacted by sea level rise. In many areas, these surges could push sea levels to at least 4 feet above high tide by 2030. By 2050, threatened areas hit by serious storms could experience surges up to 5 feet higher than high tide.
And that’s not all. Almost unbelievably, the Greenland and Arctic ice sheets are so massive that they actually exert a gravitational pull on the ocean, causing even higher sea levels for nearby coastlines to deal with.
According to Climate Central, an independent environment nonprofit, "Carbon emissions causing 4°C of warming—what business-as-usual points toward today—could lock in enough sea level rise to submerge land currently home to 470 to 760 million people, with unstoppable rise unfolding over centuries."
Louisiana fastest level of rise 1.17 (also Cancer Alley and oil drilling and refining).
How Nature Can Help Provide a Much-Needed Solution for Dramatic Sea Level Rise 5/16.
Say goodbye to major cities if these scientists are right about Antarctica’s collapsing ice 4/16.
Meet the World’s First Climate Refugees
Native Americans, see Native Americans. 1/16
Atlantic 5 rise: NASA researchers confirmed that the circulation of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is slowing down. In 2009 and 2010 that shifting had already been linked to a sudden and extreme five-inch sea level rise on the East Coast. 1/16.
Pacific Islands Make Last-Ditch Plea to World Before Paris Climate Change Talks.
It's Too Late to Save Over 400 U.S. Cities From Rising Seas, Scientists Say.
500-Year Floods Coming to New York Every 24 Years, Study Says 10/15.
Climate Change’s Worst-Case Scenario: 200 Feet of Sea Level Rise (UC research). 9/15.
Eko Atlantic – Climate Change Apartheid Eko Atlantic, being built just off Lagos along Nigeria’s Coast and designed to house 250,000 is slated to be completed in 2016. Its whole purpose, developers say, is to “arrest the ocean’s encroachment”.
10 Iconic Places That May Disappear Due to Climate Change 7/15.
Paddle in Seattle, kayakctivists take on Shell 5/15.
Why have an underwater cabinet meeting? here's the answer: narrated by NPR's Richard Harris (Go Slugs!)
Sea level “jumps” 5 inches. Probably nothing to worry about 3/15. Update. 5/15.
Ecotopia lives! City of South Miami Officials Call For 'South Florida' Secession because of global warming inaction. More.
Buckminster Fuller Institute design award site with video. Living Breakwaters (2014 winner) is about dissipating and working with natural energy rather than fighting it. It is on the one hand an engineering and infrastructure-related intervention, but it also has a unique biological function as well.
10/14 update: six feet by 2100, but...
SF wetlands restoration saves species and fights sea level rise] (PBS video) 10/14.
Florida news update 5/14.
5 exciting new ways New York can deal with storm surges and rising seas 5/14.
You don’t have to live on a coast to get flooded out by climate change 2/14
Report Describes the Unfathomable Cost of Inaction on Rising Seas 2/14.
Endangered species could be screwed by rising seas 12/13.
Wetlands are disappearing faster, just when we need them the most 12/13.
Thousands Flee As Super Typhoon Rages Toward Philippines global warming a factor, 200 mph winds, more to come.
Kiribati climate refugees fighting to stay in New Zealand 10/13.
Napa Wetlands Nearly Restored After 20-Year Sonoma Marsh Restoration Project In California 9/13.
Are Wetlands Nature's Best Defense Against Sea Level Rise?
Can Cities Adjust to a Retreating Coastline? By ANDREW C. REVKIN NYT 8/13.
Records For Arctic Ice Melt, Greenhouse Gas Emissions In 2012 As World Continues To Warm: Report 8/13.
Due to Global Warming, End Is Virtually Certain for NYC, Boston, Miami, Holland 7/13. (audio).
Here’s an easy way to protect coastal communities from rising seas and storms 7/13
West Coast Sea Level Rise: 6 Inches Expected In California By 2030, Report Finds 6/12
Why So Many Flood Maps Are Still Out of Date 7/13 see also series
US Marshall islands threatened by sea level rise so is US water supply.
More bad news about glaciers — and therefore sea levels 11/12 UPDATE biggest calving ever recorded (video) 12/12. Graphs (and misuse).
Facing climate reality, cities look for ways to adapt 6/13 includes sea level rise.
Saltwater intrusion into underground aquifers where we get well water for cities and farms. overview and images.
Ocean Protection Council has published sea level data from UCSC: Nicole Russell and Dr. Gary Griggs of the University of California, Santa Cruz, recently published a new report titled “Adapting to Sea Level Rise: A Guide for California’s Coastal Communities.” The guidebook is intended to assist state agency staff, and managers and planners in California’s coastal cities and counties in developing sea level rise adaptation plans for coastal communities.
Maps/Infographics
Climate Central has various tools e.g., sea level rise maps (Enter a location you are curious about) 11/19.
National Geographic has a good, but disturbing, interactive map showing what 216 feet of sea level rise will do to coastlines around the world.
Here’s what your city (LA) will look like when the ice sheets melt 12/14.
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is introducing interactive maps (oil, mines, powerplants) that combine real-time data feeds from NOAA's National Hurricane Center, video demo TRMS)
Cal-Adapt was built specifically to address projections about climate change in California, designed by Google, in collaboration with the California Energy Commission, the U.S. Geological Survey, several California universities and others. NEW
Global warming Unfair, map compares emissions to risk 11/13.
FEMA flood maps need work NYC 3D flood map.
Video
Meet the World’s First Climate Refugees 1/16.
Why have an underwater cabinet meeting? here's the answer: narrated by NPR's Richard Harris (Go Slugs!) 5/15.
‘Vanishing World’ Explores the Realities of Climate Refugees: Marianne Hougen-Moraga from Denmark explores in her short film Vanishing World—part of the Action4Climate video competition—how people from the remote Alaskan village of Newtok are directly affected by climate change. Their village is literally sinking and now they are starting to build America’s first climate-change refugee camp. 9/14.
Sea Surge: With more than 40% of the world’s population living in coastal areas, the impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly hard to ignore. Rising sea levels are endangering infrastructure, homes, and even entire societies. Coral and shellfish are struggling to survive as the waters undergo acidification from CO2. What role do oceans play in the world’s economy? How will the changes be felt and how will communities adapt? Is there anything we can do to slow the tide? Panel includes Brian Fagan, author, The Attacking Ocean: The Past, Present and Future of Rising Sea Levels. see books below. Daily Show.
PBS NewsHour on Southern Ca (video) 3/12.
Arctic Methane: Why The Sea Ice Matters
What Happens to Silicon Valley When Sea Levels Rise?
Funding, Mitigation & Adaptation in California & Beyond 5/16/2013 | Watch video
Can Superstorm Sandy Happen in San Francisco? 5/16/2013 | Watch video.
Audio
Jeff Goodell, author of The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World audio interview *** 11/17.
Due to Global Warming, End Is Virtually Certain for NYC, Boston, Miami, Holland 7/13. (audio).
Inuit culture threatened by sea level rise (text and audio) 9/10.
San Francisco Bay: SF Bay sea level rise also maps. KQED's Quest. baykeeper. Friends of the the SF Estuary, Save the Bay.
RISE: Part I Sounding the Waters Series: RISE: Climate Change and Coastal Communities. Sea level rise, includes Bay Area. San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary on the Pacific coast of the Americas. Yet it was once much larger – 40% of its waters and wetlands were filled to create real estate. The 29-inch rise of coastal waters predicted by 2050, along with rapid river run-off and flooding due to storm surges, will reclaim some of that land. Among the areas threatened are the airports, Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Financial District. Part 2 on farmers. Part 3: Chuey Cazares has lived all of his 21 years in Alviso, a tiny hamlet jutting into the salt ponds at the southern tip of the San Francisco Bay. Part of a close, extended Chicano family, with hundreds of relatives living in town, Chuey works as a deck hand on a shrimp boat off Alviso's shores.
His town's history — and its future — are defined by water. In the 1800's, farmers drained the aquifer, and the land sank thirteen feet below sea level. Then, the conversion of wetlands to salt ponds made the rivers back up during heavy rains and flooded Alviso. Now sea level rise from the Bay and more rain swelling the rivers threaten more frequent flooding. Chuey's family was traumatized by the last big flood in 1983, and although they fear the next one, they don't want to move anywhere else. Meanwhile, Mendel Stuart of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to save Alviso by restoring wetlands. But who is Alviso being saved for? As the flood risk lessens, property values are increasing, making housing in Alviso unaffordable for Chuey and his relatives. And the wetlands conversion has driven his boss's lucrative shrimping business out of the salt ponds.
Sea level rise effect on coastal communities, especially San Pedro. 4/12 (audio).
Books
Jeff Goodell, author of The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World audio interview 11/17.
Brian Fagan, author, The Attacking Ocean: The Past, Present and Future of Rising Sea Levels. Daily Show.
A World Without Ice, a book by Henry Pollack who was a winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change. Google talk video 2009.
== Local Resources == (see also Slugs in Action)
Gary Griggs, director of UCSC's Institute of Marine Sciences, led off testimony on sea level rise in Congress 10/13. Griggs and coauthor explore California’s captivating coastal edge from past to present and look ahead to how climate change, fisheries, petroleum industries, and coastal development intertwine to transform coastal communities in two new books 10/17.
Lisa C. Sloan, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and Director of the Climate Change and Impacts Laboratory, has a new paper on effect of irrigation cooling, and a map of Santa Cruz sea level rise.
Report projects future wave and wind effects on Pacific islands 1/15 ..."With little to no publicly available historical wind and wave data for most of the U.S.-affiliated Pacific islands, and no future projections of waves and winds for different climate scenarios, there was a great science and management need to understand how waves and wind might change in future climates," said Curt Storlazzi, USGS oceanographer and lead author of the study. UC Santa Cruz graduate students James Shope (Earth and planetary sciences) and Christie Hegermiller (ocean sciences) worked with Storlazzi and other USGS scientists on the report. The team ran four global climate models (developed for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), using them to drive a global wave model to look at the projected changes in wave heights, wave periods, and wave directions, as well as wind speed and wind direction, on three Hawaiian Islands and 22 other locations on U.S.-affiliated islands in the Pacific Ocean.
