Dutch Begin Preparing for Rising Seas

The Dutch have always been a little bit ahead of the curve, so it’s no surprise to learn that they’re not just sitting on their hands waiting for global warming to cause the seas to rise up around them. They’re being proactive to ensure that the Netherlands, which is well below sea level, survives the coming challenges.

As glaciers in Switzerland melt, the water level of the Rhine will rise, necessitating a long-term solution to keeping water out of the city. Dutch people remember all too well the great flood of 1953, which killed over 1800 people and wiped too villages off the map, and they don’t want a repeat performance.

From Reuters:

Some 70 percent of the country’s economic output is generated below sea level, protected by a complex-system of ancient dikes and modern cement barriers that hold back water from the sea and the multitude of rivers that weave through the country.

Now, with scientists’ predicting that sea levels will rise by about one meter (3.3 feet) this century, the Dutch are reversing centuries of tradition to create natural flood plains for rivers as well as rebuild mangrove swamps as buffers against the sea.

“We’ve been adapting for 1,000 years. That’s nothing new. It’s just that climate change is going faster than it was before,” said Lennart Silvis, the operational manager of the public-private Netherlands Water Partnership.

Instead of raising dikes, the Dutch want to reclaim land and build public recreation areas that can absorb storm surges.

Plans in the works include developing floating housing that rises and falls with the water level. And, even if there were to be dangerous flooding, these people are prepared – children start a five-year course of swimming lessons at the age of four, which requires a test that includes swimming 100 meters while fully dressed in heavy winter clothing.

If you’re going to live in a vulnerable area, it’s important to accept reality and not just wait until a crisis happens. Communities around the world could definitely learn a thing or two from the Dutch.

Link [Reuters]
Photo credit: Flickr user Daveness_98

Land in Juneau Rising as Alaska Glaciers Melt

In most coastal areas threatened by global warming, it’s rising seas that are a big concern. But in Juneau, Alaska, the opposite is true. As the glaciers melt, the land is actually rising, causing the sea to recede. As a result, the region’s ecology – and geography – is changing rapidly.

From The New York Times:

The geology is complex, but it boils down to this: Relieved of billions of tons of glacial weight, the land has risen much as a cushion regains its shape after someone gets up from a couch. The land is ascending so fast that the rising seas — a ubiquitous byproduct of global warming — cannot keep pace. As a result, the relative sea level is falling, at a rate “among the highest ever recorded,” according to a 2007 report by a panel of experts convened by Mayor Bruce Botelho of Juneau.

Greenland and a few other places have experienced similar effects from widespread glacial melting that began more than 200 years ago, geologists say. But, they say, the effects are more noticeable in and near Juneau, where most glaciers are retreating 30 feet a year or more.

As the sea level falls, streams and wetlands are drying out and channels that were once navigable are being silted up. People can actually wade across the Gastineau Channel, where large boats once were able to sail. Eventually, experts say, Douglas Island will be linked to the mainland by dry land, effectively erasing all 4,000 acres of the boggy Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge.

This surprising revelation simply highlights the fact that we can’t predict the ways in which climate change will affect the earth. And, the unexpected effects can be just as devastating as those scientists have already predicted.

Link [The New York Times]
Photo credit: Michael Penn for The New York Times

Worst Global Warming Impacts Avoidable – If We Act Now

The worst effects of global warming are still avoidable according to a new study – if we act now. Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research used a computer model to create two maps: one showing average surface temperature projections for the end of the century if emissions remain unchecked, and another showing temperature projections if emissions are cut by 70 percent.

From MSNBC:

“This research indicates that we can no longer avoid significant warming during this century,” Warren Washington, the study’s lead author, said in a statement. “But if the world were to implement this level of emission cuts, we could stabilize the threat of climate change and avoid catastrophe.”

The computer simulation by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., projected that unchecked levels would mean an Earth 4 degrees warmer. But a 70 percent emissions cut would limit the increase to about 2 degrees, the study found.

“If we follow on the path that (President Barack) Obama has outlined of cutting emissions by 70 or 80 percent and the rest of the world does it, then we can make a big difference on the climate by the end of the century,” Washington told The Associated Press.

Among the projected effects of cutting emissions by 70 percent include slower sea rises, far less Arctic summer ice shrinkage, a reduction in Arctic warming, a reduction of extreme precipitation changes and a stabilized climate system.

We’ve been hearing all about the consequences of doing nothing – from coasts and entire nations getting swallowed up by the sea to extreme droughts that could lead to water wars and famine. If we’ve got a chance to stop these things from happening, we must do it.

Link [MSNBC]

Rising Seas Not Your Problem? Think Again

New Yorkers, prepare to get wet. Thanks to rising sea levels, much of Manhattan will begin to experience “violent and frequent” storm surges as the 21st century unfolds. Wall Street, for example, is barely three feet above sea level and will likely find itself underwater more often in the years to come, according to a new study published by Nature Geoscience.

From Google (AFP):

The researchers analysed the projections of nearly a dozen state-of-the art climate change models, under three different greenhouse gas scenarios.

They found that sea levels in the North Atlantic adjusted in all cases to the projected slowing of the Gulf Stream and its northward extension, the North Atlantic Current.

The weakened currents account for nearly half of a predicted sea rise — from thermal expansion alone — of 36 to 51 centimeters for the US northeastern coast, especially near New York, they found.

“This will lead to the rapid sea level rise on the Northeast coast of the United States,” Yin told AFP by phone.

Rapid sea level increases would put cities such as New York, Boston, Baltimore and Washington D.C. at significantly greater risk of coastal hazards such as hurricanes and intense winter storm surges.

Part of the reason there’s so much resistance to global warming action in America is because people seem to think this country is immune to most of the effects being predicted by scientists. We hear dire warnings about what will happen in places like India, the Pacific Islands and Africa all the time but rarely do the projections hit close to home. Perhaps this news will be a wake-up call to some people. Fear does tend to put a fire under our asses.

Link [Google]
Photo credit: Vanity Fair via Treehugger

The Maldives Threatened By Global Climate Change

The Maldives is one of the lowest lying countries in the world and is threatened by sea level rise and other climate change impacts like increased sea temperatures. It was the first country to sign the Kyoto protocol in 1997 and is closely following the climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland.

Head For the Hills, Stock Up The Larder, And Git Yer Guns Loaded, Another Huge Antarctic Ice Shelf has Collapsed

Stock up the foot, clean the guns, and get your waders on- the collapse of the Antarctic ice shelf is in high gear. The Wilkins ice shelf, an area 160 square miles large, seven times the size of Manhattan, has suddenly collapsed. Scientists had the rare opportunity to film the collapse when they saw it happening over satellite images and diverted more lenses to cover it, even getting an airplane in the air to shoot video and photos.

There are two kinds of polar ice- sea ice and land ice (not the scientific names, but they’ll do here). The sea ice sits in the ocean, most of it sitting below water level. When those ice shelfs break off they don’t have much of an impact on sea levels. When the land ice- the glaciers sitting on the ground above sea level- collapses, it adds new mass into the ocean and can quickly raise sea levels across the globe.

The Antarctic land ice is being held back by the now quickly collapsing sea ice. As the world’s temperature rises snow and ice melt and run down to the ground through the glacier in giant ice tunnels. The water follows the slope of the land down to the ocean and acts like a lubricant between the ground and the glacier ice above. When the sea ice has collapsed enough not to hold up the lubricated land ice, it can all fall apart in a matter of hours and days.

How do you think the world would react to a 20 foot rise in sea levels over the course of a day? It’d be pure chaos and madness, epic disaster movie style.

Someone smarter than me has put together a Google Maps mashup that will show you what rising sea levels look like on a map of the world meter by meter. See for yourself. New York City would be really screwed.

The future will be nothing if not interesting.

Links [Huffington Post] & [The National Snow and Ice Data Center] & [The British Antarctic Survey]