July 6th 2012.Lenny Rudow
Atlantic Coast Sea Levels Rising Faster than Elsewhere
Your boating opportunities could be expanding soon, thanks to global sea rise.
According to U.S. Geological survey scientists – and we know federal employees are never, ever wrong – sea levels along the U.S. Atlantic coastline are rising three to four times faster than the global average. Before we run for the hills, however, boaters living along this coast should ask themselves: is this necessarily a bad thing? Just think about all of the new cruising grounds you’ll be able to visit, with an extra foot or two under the keel. And those limited access problems we’ve been worried about? Hah—soon, you’ll be able to launch your boat right in the backyard!
Was the captain of this boat mistaken, or merely forward-thinking?
On the flip side, some reliable sources say that sea levels are actually falling in some places, such as Juneau, Alaska. “The retreat of ice age glaciers is still being responded to by continental land mass below, basically a relaxation and rebound that’s way faster than warming-driven rise of seas (an area where everything is relative!)” says New York Times Dot Earth blogger Andrew Revkin.
Tides could be affected, too. Boaters on the Chesapeake Bay (including yours truly) have noticed a declining accuracy in the tidal predictions published by NOAA. As Revkin says, “Weird things could happen.” (Remember the invasion of the Frankenfish?)
And things aren’t only getting zany for human beings—wildlife is also being affected. Polar bears are the most obvious example; just about everyone living along the Atlantic coast has heard of their demise even though they live thousands of miles away. Sea turtles are also in the cross-hairs because they nest on low-level beaches, and the loss of breeding territory is expected to affect many species of shore birds as well.
But hey—aren’t we willing to trade a few Darwinian losers for expanded boating and fishing opportunities? Besides, all the weird things happening in today’s environment are way beyond our control anyway… aren’t they? Of course they are. If people could do anything about problems like global warming or sea level rise, then Congress surely would have taken action and solved them by now—just like they solved health care, banking reform, and illegal immigration.
Besides, just think about what an economic shot in the arm the construction boom will be, when half of our existing roads are under water.
Rising seas, falling seas – will one of the Superpacs please fund their scientists and reporters well enough to end this argument, already!?
About the author:
Lenny Rudow
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- Lenny Rudow is Senior Editor for Dominion Marine Media, including Boats.com and Yachtworld.com. With over two decades of experience in marine journalism, he has contributed to publications including Boating Magazine, Marlin Magazine, Boating World, Saltwater Sportsman, Texas Fish & Game, and many others. Lenny is a graduate of the Westlawn School of Yacht Design who has won 28 BWI and OWAA writing awards.
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Tags: Atlantic, falling sea levels, frankenfish, Lenny Rudow, sea level rise
March 28th, 2013 at 6:02 am
[...] year we told you how Atlantic coast sea levels were rising faster than elsewhere, according to USGS scientists. We warned you at that time not to argue with government scientists, [...]