Florida officials have a strategy for fighting climate change: don’t talk about it. Employees at the state’s Department of Environmental Protection were warned not to used the terms “climate change” or “global warming” after Republican Governor Rick Scott took office in 2011. That won’t stop the warming world’s rising seas from swallowing Miami, but mum’s the word until Mr. Scott leaves office.
Methane and other greenhouse gasses are heating up the world’s atmosphere, fueling global warming. 18% of those gases come from the burps and farts of the billions of cows in the vast herds feeding the world’s growing appetite for meat. Face it, Earth’s human population isn’t going to go Vegan, and cow-mounted catalytic converters just don’t cut it. What’s to be done?
New Yorkers learned about Storm Surge last month after a visit from Hurricane Sandy. But with climate change causing rising sea levels, Tidal Surge will be a more frequent threat to coastal cities. If you want to see New York’s future, look at Venice.
Climate change means extreme weather. When it’s stormy there will be some monster waves, but there will also be long periods of flat water. The really bad news is that climate warming causes sea level rise:
“Even a foot change in the tide line can mean the difference between great and mediocre waves…. Researchers believe sea levels could rise six inches by 2030, and a foot by 2050, or more.”
At beaches where the water has a sandy bottom, there will still be some slope and maybe some decent wave formation. Where the bottom is rocky or made of coral, the outlook is not so good.
More:
“Will Climate Change Wipe Out Surfing?” Sam Kornell, Pacific Standard
Image (“The Great Wipeout Off Kanagawa, after Hokusai”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Image (“King Canute Tours North Carolina Shoreline”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Global Warming has really disturbed the seasons here in Washington DC. Christmas started breaking out before Halloween. It’s not even Thanksgiving, but Christmas is in full swing all over town.
Actually, it’s not Christmas, it’s Xmas, the annual high holiday of retail. Here’s the early scouting report from the neighborhood:
“The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at . . . jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet, to me, is just nonsense I mean . . . and I tell somebody, I said, just because you have a group of scientists that have stood up and said here is the fact, Galileo got outvoted for a spell.”
This is a controversial position for a Tea Party Republican in these sceptical times. It might even be taken to mean that Mr. Perry actually believes that the Earth revolves around the Sun, when anyone can plainly can see it’s the other way ’round. The Perry campaign has not responded to questions about those provocative implications.
