With apologies to Bob Dylan, do we need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows?
Certainly it seems they don’t in North Carolina. There, lawmakers are considering a bill that would essentially deny global warming and accompanying predictions of rising sea levels. All so developers can continue to make a buck off people who assume that if you build it, it must be safe -- even if it isn’t.
In California, we’re also facing the threat of rising sea levels.
Sea levels along the California coast are expected to rise as much as 1 foot in 20 years, 2 feet by 2050 and as much as 5 1/2 feet by the end of the century, climbing slightly faster than the global average and increasing the risk of flooding and storm damage, a new study says.
And it’s not just melting ice that’s working against us. Turns out the old saw about California sliding into the ocean is more accurate than you might’ve thought:
Much of California is slowly sinking, extending the reach of a sea that is getting hotter and expanding due to global warming, according to a report by a committee of scientists released Friday by the National Research Council.
But wait, there's more! It seems that the Golden State is going to get goldener, as in burnt-toast gold:
“By the middle of the century, the number of days with temperatures above 95 degrees each year will triple in downtown Los Angeles, quadruple in portions of the San Fernando Valley and even jump five-fold in a portion of the High Desert in L.A. County,†according to a new UCLA climate change study.
Of course, I like to find silver linings in bad news. So here it is: We’ll be hot, but if we want to go to the beach to cool off, the ocean won’t be as far away.
Still, it’s interesting to contrast the political reaction in L.A. to the climate news with that of the folks in North Carolina: Â
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the forecasts provide the groundwork for local governments, utilities, hospitals and other institutions to prepare for the hot spells to come. Villaraigosa said the region may have to strengthen building codes to reduce risk to residents. "That could mean replacing incentives with building codes requiring 'green' and 'cool' roofs, cool pavements, tree canopies and parks," he said.
Which, I suspect, is going to be much more expensive than following North Carolina’s example and simply ordering the Earth to stand still. Silly liberals!
Of course, the folks in North Carolina may yet have to deal with reality. The state's proposed law wants only past data to be used in assessing the future threat of rising seas. But on Monday, a report was released that has sobering data, from the past, about the East Coast's future, North Carolina's in particular:
Sea levels in a 620-mile "hot spot" along the Atlantic coast are rising three to four times faster than the global average, according to a new study by theU.S. Geological Survey.
The sharp rise in sea levels from North Carolina to Massachusetts could mean serious flooding and storm damage for major cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Boston, as well as threats to wetlands habitats, the study said.
Since 1990, sea levels have risen 2 millimeters to 3.7 millimeters a year from Cape Hatteras, N.C., on the Outer Banks, to Boston, said the study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The global average for the same two-decade period was 0.6 millimeters to 1 millimeters per year.
Seems fairly conclusive to me. But I don't expect that this report will change the minds of ardent climate change deniers.Â
So for them, I propose a simple test:
Fill a glass of water nearly to the top. Put some ice cubes in it.  Let the ice cubes melt.
Observe what happens.
And then, perhaps, think again about whether it’s really a good idea to continue to build at the ocean’s edge. Even in North Carolina.
Oh, and if you live in California, keep that ice water handy. You're going to need it.
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