This isn't new news, but each time I read an updated article on the topic I find myself shaking my head.
Sea levels on the United States' mid-Atlantic coast are rising faster than the global average because of global warming, threatening the future of coastal communities, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday.
Using conservative estimates, the EPA says the eight-state region from New York to North Carolina is an area that "will likely see the greatest impacts due to rising waters, coastal storms, and a high concentration of population along the coastline," according to an agency summary.
Coastal waters from New York to North Carolina have crept up by an average of 2.4 to 4.4 millimeters (0.09 to 0.17 inches) a year, compared with an average global increase of 1.7 millimeters (0.07 inches) a year, the EPA said in a report.
Of course the changes always seem extremely minuscule and many people don't bother fretting or trying to develop solutions, but the changes are visible. I live in Delaware and the shores in this area shrink every year. I am sure in my lifetime there will be beaches closed for the reason that there is no room for people to pitch an umbrella for the afternoon.
Another thing to realize is the rising water does not just mean less shore, it also means coastal storms will become more severe as they reach further inland.
Most coastal wetlands in the mid-Atlantic would be lost if sea level rises one meter in the next century. Even a 50-cm rise would threaten most wetlands along the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay.
The presence of such high concentrations of greenhouse gases is altering the Earth's climate, raising temperatures and impacting on the landscape.
A recent Reuters article shows that rising sea levels are eroding Sydney beaches. By 2050 there is a risk portions of the beach will disappear altogether. The beaches in danger are those which are very low-lying and they are up against higher landforms behind them, they will become narrower.
The coastline will move inward. What is now currently a vegetated dune may become the beach. An expected recession of the coastline of a sandy beach of about one meter for every centimeter rise in sea level.
This article came about after a Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) study, commissioned by the Department of Climate Change. The reports showed an overall impact of global change "will pose some very significant risks to the sustainability of fisheries and aquaculture in Australia". The worries are that in 50 years times the Sydney shoreline in Australia will be in so much disarray the city will become unsustainable.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed that human activity has increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide - in 2007 at its highest level for 650,000 years.
The collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in the Antarctic has been confirmed as a consequence of warming in the Southern Ocean.
