floods | GarryRogers Nature Conservation

GR: The fires of our industry have changed our planet. There is enough added carbon in the atmosphere to produce the changes CSIRO and BOM predict. How much worse things get depends on when we stop adding carbon.

The following is by Harry Tucker: “AUSTRALIA’s two biggest science and weather bodies, CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology have released new climate change data and information on how it will affect Australia.

“There is very high confidence that hot days will become more frequent and hotter,” CSIRO principal research scientist, Kevin Hennessy said.

“We also have very high confidence that sea levels will rise, oceans will become more acidic, and snow depths will decline.

“We expect that extreme rainfall events across the nation are likely to become more intense, even where annual-average rainfall is projected to decline.”

“The projections are the most comprehensive ever released for Australia, and renowned science expert Dr Karl Kruszelnicki says they’re only just the tip of the iceberg.” Source: www.news.com.au.

GR: My first reaction to this story was that it is the kind of news that would motivate our leaders to take action to stop greenhouse emissions that are responsible for climate change. Then it occurred to me that the 98% will pay for the cost of rising sea level. It will have no impact on the 2% and the congress they control. The only solution that comes to mind is divestiture, but even that feels weak. Got any ideas?

The following by Robertscribbler

“This week, Miami is scrambling to deal with a flooding emergency.

“But the cause is not the looming approach of a major hurricane or even a powerful tropical storm. The flood emergency for the coming three days is simply a seasonal astronomical high tide. Something they are now calling a King Tide. A condition that arises due to solar and lunar alignment a few times every year. A gravitational flux that pushes high tides another foot or so above the normal range.

“Decades or even years ago, astronomical high tide wasn’t so much of a problem for Miami. Now, it means flooded roads and runways. It means salt water backing up through city drainage and municipal water systems. It means sea walls over-topped. It means lawns, properties and businesses covered in water.

“The crisis is so serious that the city has already allocated more than 400 million dollars to deal with the problem. And this week, crews and flood prevention planners are scrambling to face the rising seas.

Rapidly Rising Waters

(Peak high tide trend from 1998 through 2014 shows sea levels rose by 4.3 inches over the past 16 years with most of the rise occurring since 2008. Image source: Dr. Zhaohua Wu, FSU)”