Even I was surprised that yesterday’s news headlines included a story about a new flood risk model. From the New York Times, across the media landscape there was a feature about better flood risk data. It was strong evidence of the growing awareness of the ...
June 29th, 2020 Category: Sea Level Rise
There is a widespread belief that Florida will be the first state to go underwater due to rising sea level. Even the fact-checked New York Times described Florida as “going beneath the waves.” However that is not at all correct. Vulnerability to rising sea level ...
June 22nd, 2020 Category: Sea Level Rise
Most of us have a natural optimism, a belief that things will work out well. Behavioral scientists refer to this as the optimism bias. The appeal and value are rather self evident. The belief in a positive outcome helps to motivate us to tackle challenges ...
June 15th, 2020 Category: Sea Level Rise
Over the long term, global sea level, global average temperature and the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) move together – in synchronization. When there is a shift in long-term average global temperature the polar ice sheets increase or decrease in size. Over decades of warming, ...
June 9th, 2020 Category: Sea Level Rise
The world is becoming more and more urbanized. It is estimated that two thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities by the year 2050. Over the last decade or so, the concept of “smart cites” has been promoted as a solution to ...
June 2nd, 2020 Category: Sea Level Rise
It was 42 years ago when the late glaciologist Dr. John Mercer made an ominous fifty year forecast about melting in Antarctica causing catastrophic sea-level rise. Because he was one of the first scientists to warn that a certain cascade of events could result ...
May 26th, 2020 Category: Sea Level Rise
Covid-19 has put “models” in the daily headlines worldwide. Ten different models for the virus were recently cited to project the number of cases and fatalities. There was a wide range to their estimates. It’s reasonable to ask why are there so many different models ...
May 18th, 2020 Category: Sea Level Rise
Beautiful blue skies from the “coronavirus lock-down” have been stunning in most major cities, due to the lack of cars and trucks. Improvements to air quality and respiratory problems were immediately apparent. Unfortunately there has been some misunderstanding about the relationship with climate change. ...
May 11th, 2020 Category: Sea Level Rise
Eighty Eight percent (88%) of the world’s ice is in Antarctica. If the Antarctic glaciers and ice sheet were to melt entirely, global sea level would be about 187 feet (57 meters) higher than at present. Fortunately that cannot happen anytime soon. Antarctica is changing ...
May 4th, 2020 Category: Sea Level Rise