Climate change: Rising waters threaten North Carolina McClatchy
Above is a link to a news article concerning the responses of coastal North Carolinians to sea level rise resulting from climate change. In the article, a panel of experts in NC noted that they expect to see a one foot rise in sea level by the year 2100. That would bring about massive damage to the coastal eco-system of that state. The problem, like so many in this area, is that the science keeps updating the anticipated results of climate change. The latest data, as of January 2011, is that a sea level rise of 1 yard (actually 1 meter, but let's not quibble over a few inches), and that estimate may be conservative (it could be more, probably not less).
The Greenland icecap is melting at a rate far higher than expected AND the current models do not yet factor that increased rate of melting. Each new report brings with it a greater estimate. The current large snowfalls in the United States are symptomatic of warming in the Arctic regions. In fact, the temperatures in Northern Canada are currently running 30 degrees warmer than normal, on the average. The melting of the Arctic ice over the summer resulted in a much later than normal autumn freeze, hence sunlight that should have been reflected back to space by sea ice hit, instead, a darker ocean surface. The increased warmth of the polar atmosphere is disturbing normal ice forming regions in dramatic ways.
The sun is still in an abnormally cool phase, which slows the rate at which the earth is warming. Imagine what will happen when the sun goes back to a maximum output phase, which it will, since the average cycle is about eleven years.
In the meantime, our human output of CO2, the gas that is the current climate forcing agent, increases instead of decreasing. How much more will we damage our climate system before we finally come to our senses? I hope and pray we do so before we bring about a major extinction event - something that appears increasingly likely.
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