Ashanti Thomas

April 11, 2016

I personally think that should be a responsibility for ALL countries because such a large epidemic like that could begin to effect other surrounding countries if we do not step in and help stop the problem in one place. If other countries just sit back and watch sea level rise and destroy a country it will only get worse for those other countries because as other places are destroyed, they sit back and do nothing about it and contribute to the problem, making it worse for everyone all over the world and causing these problems to occur faster.

In the article “Drowning History: Sea Level Rise Threatens US Historic Sites” it talks about many different historic sites across America that are low-laying by the water, as well as speaking about historic sites all over the country. The article tells you about how all of these historic sites can be ruined or even completely submerged because of sea level rise, if sea level rises only 3 feet it can cause 1.5 billion dollars’ worth of damage to the Statue of Liberty. In Boston the annual amount of floods in the 1070s was only two, in between 2009 and 2013 the amount rose to 11 and could rise to 72 floods a year if sea level would rise to 11 inches. The article also speaks about Newport, Annapolis, and Jamestown, Hawaii, and sites in other countries like South Africa on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years.

So when sea level rise affects one place or one country it is really effecting all of us, and what really we need to do is rise about these levels and help each other.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/drowning-history-sea-level-rise-threatens-us-historic-38300090

Scientists are predicting that Antarctica’s western ice sheet may be actually melting faster than previously expected. Scientists have developed physics-based simulations that can forecast melting of ice in different areas. The focus of the simulations in the article were targeting the area of Western Antarctica. The simulation states that in the worst scenario possible, the sea level in that area could raise 18-34 inches by 2100. This amount is higher than predicted a few years ago. The article states that if the world is able to control greenhouse gas emissions to levels they pledged in the past, then the sea level rise will still be 3-12 inches higher than previously predicted. These predictions bring a new alarming fact that needs more and more attention to control the future sea levels. The simulations are also predicted by the year 2500, the sea level could be a total of 42 feet higher. This is a huge problem because that big of a sea level rise will likely flood the entire world. Antarctica is a rather difficult area for scientists to predict because the ice is a lot thicker and melts at a slower rates than other ice areas. It will be interesting to see what the future holds with ice melting and the way it affects sea level rises.

Article:

“Study: Antarctic Ice May Melt Faster Than Expected.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/03/30/science/ap-us-sci-antarctica-melt.html>.

The main purpose of this article was to show how climate change has been killing coral which is leading to negative effects in the water ecosystems. Kim Cobb, a researcher from the Georgia Institute of Technology was sampling coral in in the Kiritimati Islands when she was something strange. She saw that an entire coral was covered with “red brown fuzz”.  The “red brown fuzz” was algae that grew on top of dead coral. All this coral is dying due to the mass bleaching that is occurring around the world. Some scientist believe that severe heat stresses that came from multiple weather events such as the pass El Nino is causing this problem. According to data that was college by the same scientist, this passed El Nino has threatened more than a third of the Earth’s coral reefs and many may not recover.
This is a big problem because coral reefs are an essential part of the ocean’s ecosystems. They provide food and shelter for a quarter of all marine species. In addition, people that feed off these ecosystems will also be effected because the fish they hunt will disappear which mean that will have to find a new food source. Since the bleaching is still occurring and will not be over for the several months, scientists don’t know how this will exactly affect the ocean’s ecosystem. All they know is that this will have a negative effect on the oceans and this bleaching needs to be closely observed.

Clouds are made up of water and ice. The more water in the cloud influences the amount of solar radiation reflected into the atmosphere.  As the earth warms the ratio of ice to water increases in favor of water.  Since there is more water this should result in more reflection and hence cooling.  However with less ice there is less capacity for water to replace ice, causing more warming.  This means that warming could occur faster than previously predicted by scientists.  A recent study has suggested this could be the difference of 1.3 degrees C.

This would render the goals set by the Paris climate almost useless as their goal was to stop warming above 1.5 degree C.  At the same time the 1.3 degree C rise is only one study so it the actual value is still unknown it could be more or less.  Overall the trend shows warming caused by unpredicted water in clouds ratio. Scientist at Yale who preformed the study stressed that study needs to trigger action not despair or a feeling of hopelessness in combating climate change.

I think that following this discovery makes sticking to the Paris conference even more important.  It also highlights the need for even more action to counter climate change.

Having a summer home along the Eastern Shore in Maryland, I wanted to find information in the news about rising sea levels along the coast of Maryland. In a new report on sea level rise explains that Maryland should plan for a sea level rise of 2 feet by 2050. This report was produced by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science as a response to Governor O’Malley’s Executive Order on Climate Change and “Coast Smart” Construction. The Governor made a statement on the issue of sea level rise saying, “we must stay abreast of the latest climate science to ensure that we have a sound understanding of our vulnerability and are making informed decisions about how best to protect our land, infrastructure, and most importantly, the citizens of Maryland.” Much like in the lab for this week, this report includes maps predicting the 2ft, 4ft, and 6ft flood projections for the coast of Maryland. Due to the fact Maryland has 3,100 mils of tidal shoreline and low lying rural and urban lands that could potentially be impacted. The reports experts’ best estimate for the amount of sea-level rise in 2050 is 1.4ft. The estimates are based on different contributors to sea level rise such as thermal expansion of ocean, melting glaciers in Greenland and Antarctic, changing ocean dynamics such as the slowing of the Gulf Stream, and vertical land movement. To combat this issue, Governor O’Malley established the Maryland Commission on Climate Change on April 20, 2007. Just 5 year later, O’Malley ordered an executive order that requires State agencies to consider the risk of coastal flooding and sea level rise to capital projects. Since then, the Department of the Environment and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps. Having a house in Rock Hall, Maryland, I was directly affected by this executive order. My family’s insurance has changed based on these maps since the executive order was made. Sea level rise is only one impact from climate change on the Chesapeake Bay which is the water my house sits just 10 feet from. Other influences include algae blooms, desalinization, and sea surface temperature rises. All create a scary outlook for my summer home but there is time for mitigation, preservation, and conservation to decrease the vulnerability along the coast.

Reference: “Sea Level Rise Projections for Maryland.” Sea Level Rise Projections for Maryland. University Of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <http://www.umces.edu/sea-level>.

As glaciers around the world are melting at an accelerated rate, sea level is continuing to rise. While it is mainly affecting those who live close to bodies of water, it is also starting to affect space exploration. Around two thirds of NASA’s land coverage is within five meters of sea level. These include including launch sites at the Kennedy Space Center and Houston’s Johnson Space Center. This, along with NASA’s drop in budget in recent years is a concern for space exploration.

Due to the close proximity to sea level in these locations, it puts launching sites at risk of floodwaters. As most people know, putting humans into space is expensive and if these sites are damaged it could cost taxpayers. Another concern is that some senators think NASA is spending too much money on earth sciences rather than space exploration. NASA administrator Charlie Bolden responded by telling them, “We can’t go anywhere if the Kennedy Space Center goes underwater.”

This article grabbed my attention because I had never thought of space exploration and climate change going hand in hand. It just goes to show that climate change can affect us all, even if we are 5 miles away or exploring space.

Resource:

http://spacenews.com/rising-sea-levels-could-have-acute-impact-on-nasa/

The West Antarctic ice sheet is larger than Mexico and it is believed to be in danger from global warming. If the ice sheet breaks up and melts, it has the ability to raise the sea level by twelve feet. Originally, researchers thought this would take thousands of years, but now new research is displaying a much more scary future for the ice sheet. Due to the high carbon emissions and warming temperatures, the ice sheet could be gone by the end of the century, and its disappearance could cause the sea level to rise by three feet. Research now indicates that with all of the melting ice, sea levels could rise six feet by 2100. The article states that many dense coastal cities will have to be abandoned, because there will not be enough protection for all of them to survive the rising sea levels. These cities include New York City, Miami, New Orleans, London, Venice, Sydney and many more.

The article then discusses the findings of researchers, including what will happen if humans continue burning fossil fuels at the same rate of today. It is expected that the West Antarctic ice sheet would be broken apart by 2050 that is only 34 years away. Most of the research is in debate now, but one thing is clear, we cannot continue to burn fossil fuels at this same rate or we will be leaving future generations a disastrous world with rising sea levels.

References:

Gillis, Justin. “Climate Model Predicts West Antarctic Ice Sheet Could Melt Rapidly.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 30 Mar. 2016. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.