| HIGH TIDE ON MAIN STREET Rising Sea Level and the Coming Coastal Crisis (rev. 2.1) John Englander Jean-Michel Cousteau (Fwd.) Christine Todd Whitman (Intro. to 2nd ed.) Boca Raton, FL: The Science Bookshelf, 2014 |
Rating: 5.0 High |
|||
| ISBN-13 978-0-615-63795-2 | ||||
| ISBN-10 0-615-63795-7 | 227pp. | SC/BWI | $19.86 | |
In the Foreword, Jean-Michel Cousteau reveals that his father, the famed ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, late in life asked another man to take over as CEO of The Cousteau Society. That man was John Englander. The death of Cousteau pere in 1997 precluded such an alliance; but the fact that Cousteau made the offer suffices to tell us John Englander is the real deal. Here is more evidence: John Englander is an oceanographer with expeditions under the North Polar Cap, deep dives in research submarines, and visits to Greenland and Antarctica to his credit. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, and of The Explorers Club. He is the Special Advisor on Climate to Friends of the United Nations, and he holds memberships in the American Geophysical Union, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Marine Technology Society.
The first five chapters of the book are a review of the history and science of trends in global temperature and sea-level rise. In Chapter 6, Englander gets down to cases as he looks at the present and near future of our world, showing by means of model results1 how sea levels are likely to rise and what's likely to be the result. Estimates for the total rise by 2100 vary widely, from 1 foot to 7 feet (and that outcome depends on how humanity reacts during the intervening years.) But in the present we know that some significant rise is inevitable, and some cities and towns already suffer intermittent flooding, while some former coastal towns are already permanently under water. Examples of the latter are Sharps Island and Holland Island, both in Chesapeake Bay. They were drowned in 1962 and 2010, respectively.
Chapters 7 through 10 further examine thinning ice sheets and melting glaciers,2 the history of CO2 emissions, the causes of uncertainty and the reasons IPCC projections are typically underestimates.
Then he gets down to cases — as exemplified by this fictional but all-too-probable real estate sign (page 103):
The Inuit of the Arctic say that the region's weather of recent years is uggianuqtuq, or unnatural. Their oral histories go back thousands of years, so this recent change is a thing to note. Englander tells us that in 2007, members of a fact-finding trip to Greenland he had organized were disappointed to find their dogsledding trip canceled because melting snow made the route unsafe. He quotes Aqqaluk Lynge, president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council:
As far back as our people can remember, there has never been melting like that of the last decade. – Page 53 |
The Inuit observations are confirmed by scientists' finding that summer meltwater zones have expanded to cover 97% of Greenland's ice sheet by July 2012.
Such changes are not confined to the polar regions, the most rapidly warming parts of the globe. Chacaltaya ski resort in Bolivia — at 17,785 feet the world's highest — closed in 2018 or perhaps earlier. Its glacier vanished in 2009; after that, skiing depended on a good snowfall in the southern winter. With a few exceptions, mountain glaciers around the world are melting; those in Montana's Glacier National Park may be gone by 2020.
"Fisherman's Dream" 4 BR 3Ba. Completely renovated. Historically desirable community. Could be oceanfront soon. Good fishing several times each month from combination driveway/boat ramp.
$599,000 Reduced to $299,000.
Act now. House will not last long.
The last line whimsically encapsulates the grim reality that is Englander's principal concern: the projected loss of great swaths of coastal real estate to the rising waters. The remaining chapters of this book probe the various aspects of the problem: falling property values; the strain on government flood insurance and the need for reform; plans by various nations to erect massive barriers of one sort of another, even to the extent of walling off inlets;3 and the possible need to relocate or elevate entire cities such as Miami where porous bedrock makes a seawall moot.
Englander makes a convincing case in this book. He presents a wealth of data drawn from IPCC reports and other sources, much of it in the form of tables, graphs, maps, and photos. Notable examples are Figure 11-3 on page 111 showing the 20 cities whose assets are most at risk4 and Figure 12-2 on page 126, a map of Washington DC flood exposure. He presents a list of nine Web sites5 and another of nine books for further reading. A list of 130 references (actually endnotes) is followed by one of Figures and Photographs, and then by a good index. The text is clear and readable, with only a modest number of errors. Overlying all this is a call for everyone including politicians to think of the long term and act responsibly. Although the book is a bit dated and there is not much in the first eight chapters that someone following the topic will not know, it is well presented and helpful to beginners. The remaining chapters make it a must-read for everyone. I give it full marks and rate it a keeper.
Those who put their political party above reality, who "spin" this issue, or continue with blind loyalty, should look at their children or grandchildren and have a moment of reflection. They can also think about their personal legacy. Recall that it took three or four decades for some of the staunchest defenders of racial segregation to see the light and to recant their obstinacy. No doubt this issue will see its version of the late Senator Strom Thurmond and Governor George Wallace, just to name two of the most ardent segregationists who late in life realized, deeply regretted, and admitted their mistake, which was born from bias and maintained by stubbornness." – Pages 181-182 |
To contact Chris Winter, send email to this address.