Flooding of Coast, Caused by Global Warming, Has Already Begun

[truthisfreedom]

Source: NY Times

NORFOLK, Va. — Huge vertical rulers are sprouting beside low spots in the streets here, so people can judge if the tidal floods that increasingly inundate their roads are too deep to drive through.

Five hundred miles down the Atlantic Coast, the only road to Tybee Island, Ga., is disappearing beneath the sea several times a year, cutting the town off from the mainland.

“Once impacts become noticeable, they’re going to be upon you quickly,” said William V. Sweet, a scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Silver Spring, Md., who is among the leaders in research on coastal inundation. “It’s not a hundred years off — it’s now.”

“I’m a Republican, but I also realize, by any objective analysis, the sea level is rising,” said Jason Buelterman, the mayor of tiny Tybee Island, one of the first Georgia communities to adopt a detailed climate plan.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/science/flooding-of-coast-caused-by-global-warming-has-already-begun.html

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"I'm a Republican, but I also realize, by any objective analysis, the sea level is rising."

Translation: Republicans have been full of shit, and continue to be full of shit, and they aren't helping.

[busterbrown]

1. love your translation

How True..

[world wide wally]

2. I guess they want to win elections so they can destroy things.

They have no intention or desire to improve anything or help anyone.
Pretty sick.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. "'I'm a Republican, but I also realize,"

"...we would rather cut off our noses to spite our face than deal with the real world that was not created by Fox".

It's ironic (although perhaps heartening) that this guy basically admits to the stupidity of his party latching on to "opposite" of whatever Democrats say and do no matter what - even if the facts are before their own eyes and even if it means it will negatively impact themselves and their own constituents. The problem with these folks is that the lunatics have taken over the asylum and anyone who bucks them gets the threat of being "primaried".

[modrepub]

4. ExxonMobil Statement on Climate Change

"The risk of climate change is clear and the risk warrants action. Increasing carbon emissions in the atmosphere are having a warming effect. There is a broad scientific and policy consensus that action must be taken to further quantify and assess the risks."

http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/current-issues/climate-policy/climate-perspectives/our-position


Why isn't this statement read to every climate change denier out there?!? Nearly every one of the major oil companies was involved in developing the Global Circulation Models in the 1980s and 90s that were used to examine future climate scenarios under increasing CO2 levels (except for the Kochs). This is a no brainer and needs to be brought up at every opportunity.

[dembotoz]

5. interesting read

[MBS]

7. Be sure to look at the interactive graphic:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/09/04/science/global-warming-increases-nuisance-flooding.html

as they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. . .
I was initially surprised that Miami didn't stand out as a more serious problem on this graph, since they already have problems with salt-water intrusion, not to mention the vulnerability of Miami and the surrounding area to hurricanes.
But I think it has something to do with what's being measured here: "tidal flooding".
I notice that Miami Beach has a pretty low tidal range, of just 3-4 feet (see http://www.tide-forecast.com/locations/Miami-Beach-city-pier-Florida/tides/latest, for September tides)- maybe that's the reason that "tidal flooding" doesn't show up as a special problem for Miami?
But, boy, by almost every other measure, Miami is already facing problems, and will face more problems, from rising sea levels and other effects of climate change.

[vkkv]

8. "I'm a Republican, but I also realize, by any objective analysis, the sea level is rising."

Translation: Give us MONEY !!

[Grins]

9. They were warned. This is what you get from Republican 'governance' and ignoring science

Bwahahahahahaha!

From Aug 2012

A day after the (Republican) North Carolina state senate passed a bill requiring science on rising sea levels TO BE IGNORED , Virginia lawmakers <i.e., Republicans> allowed a study on its coastline to begin on the state's dime only after all references to climate change or global warming were removed from its funding proposal.

Looking to address flooding and encroaching sea water on the coast, Virginia lawmakers recommended a scientific study on the problem. When state Sen. Ralph Northam pushed the study through the legislature in February, he met resistance from Republicans who didn't want any reference to "sea level rise" or "climate change" in its language.

And now, four years later, Virginia is installing "vertical rulers"

[Marthe48]

10. Does anyone know

if or how interior waters will be affected by global warming? We lived about a mile from the Ohio River, and I'm wondering if interior waters are going to rise as well? If the mouths of the rivers, such as the Mississippi are drowned, what happens further upriver?

[brett_jv]

11. The further you are upriver from the mouth, the less likely that flooding would increase ...

But sea level rising absolutely will increase the likelihood of 'upstream' flooding in general. It pretty much would HAVE to, by my thinking.

[Arazi]

14. Thank you and welcome to DU. Your link is excellent

[Marthe48]

16. Thanks for the link!

I will be sure to read it. You can add links to your comments, seems to be fine by everyone Welcome to DU!

[LuckyLib]

17. Thanks for the information. Welcome to DU!

[lunatica]

15. "'I'm a Republican, but I also realize,...

I'm pretty stupid and clueless about most things, but man! this water is up to my ass on the island!"

[libdem4life]

18. Add the earthquake in Oklahoma and the possibility of activity on the New Madrid Fault

and the rains/flooding ... climate/weather in the Midwest is definitely shifting.