[GWSG] SLR overview; Atlantic City; Annapolis; Orange Cty; 232 dead coal plants; C on the sea floor; cc & public health

[Tilley, Al]

1.  Nicola Jones provides an overview in Yale e360 of current research on sea level rise.  The heading suggests an increasing possibility of six feet of rise this century; the article hints at why that projection is overly conservative as a planning base.  While we cannot predict the pace of rise under the current conditions of warming because they are novel, we are beginning to understand the ice sheet dynamics which could yield higher rates of rise.  A report on the current regional acceleration of SLR rise rates would indicate that we may well be close to the destabilization of many coastal areas, including the US East Coast.    http://e360.yale.edu/feature/abrupt_sea_level_rise_realistic_greenland_antarctica/2990/



2.  In Atlantic City, built on a barrier island, even modest rain floods streets.  Services have become spotty due to financial strain from sea level rise.  Tax revenues are dropping.  The rich have gone to high ground and the poor are looking for ways to leave.  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160502-rising-seas-climate-change-atlantic-city/  If we do not plan for what is on the way and then act on those plans, many coastal areas will share the problems of Atlantic city.  We should undertake vulnerability studies now and plan for a range of sea levels.



3.  Annapolis is trying to hang on to its identity as the water rises.  http://www.capitalgazette.com/news/annapolis/bs-md-sea-level-rise-20160430-story.html



4.  With the help of the U of CA-Irvine, Orange County is confronting the problem of sea level rise with models of vulnerability at scales down to individual houses.  http://www.ocregister.com/articles/sea-713335-rise-level.html



5.  The Sierra Club and more than 100 allied organizations have assisted in the shutdown of over 100,000 megawatts of coal-fueled electricity sources in the US.  Since 2010 a coal plant has abandoned operation every ten days.  232 coal plants have closed and over 300 remain in the US.  http://www.sierraclub.org/compass/2016/05/sierra-clubs-beyond-coal-campaign-crosses-100000-mw-milestone-for-america-s-clean



6.  The bacteria and archaea on the sea floor make up 11-31% of marine living matter.  They do not tolerate warming well and play a significant though imperfectly understood role in the ocean's carbon cycle.  http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/may/06/deep-sea-microbes-may-be-key-to-oceans-climate-change-feedback



7.  The Obama administration is emphasizing climate change as a public health issue.  http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-05-06/taking-on-climate-change-is-key-to-public-health  ?

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