The tides here on the Chesapeake Bay are really big with those Kings-- our boatyard offices and rebuild facilities flood-- 6" of water to get to the restrooms...docks and electric way under. It's more real than anyone wants to admit. If you haven't seen the photos of Annapolis a few weeks ago, downtown really gets hit. Feet of water. Thanks for emphasizing the problem. ~J
“Paradoxically, since 2022, we’ve seen more real estate placed in harm’s way along our shorelines while local governments lack the political will to prevent it.” This is exactly what we’re seeing happening on Georgia’s coast too. Been happening for a while but it feels like it’s ramped up in the last handful of years. King tides, hurricanes, thunderstorm flooding… I’ll be pondering these same questions you pose here and pass them along to the nonprofit I work for doing this kind of work along our coast!
A handful of years ago, a researcher/photographer spent time in the Chesapeake Bay area to document where the coastline will be in 2100. He used blue tape to mark new projected water levels and measuring sticks to indicate how much of a person or structure standing there today would be submerged. Sobering, to say the least. We are already at sea level, here, and "sinking." https://www.michaelosnyder.com/thecomingcoast
Thanks for what you're doing. It might not matter in the end, but we have to operate as if if will.
I'm glad to hear it. Will was Regional Administrator of the West Coast Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, went on to found Washington Water Trust, and is now board chair of our local land trust. A good guy!
A few months back, plumbers working on pipes under the Stanwood library encountered the water level less than a foot under the crawl space dirt. The old town was built on an estuary flood plain that was taken from the sea by farmers who saw building dikes by hand as a practical way of obtaining farmland that was rich in nutrients. Land along the state highway out to Camano Island became a town. The library was originally a building used by a local brass band, which shared the space with the library, beginning in 1922. Now the flat estuary land is just a few feet above sea level. The City of Stanwood last year completed a master planning process good for 20 years, to somewhere in the 2040s. Not a mention of sea level rise or taking climate change into account.
You should take a drive from one end of 271st (main st) to the other. The next IPCC assessment of sea level indications is being assembled this week.
Natural systems have a quiet and persistent way of suggesting that we humans can't control everything. Our emphasis on growth rather than resilience is wildly counterintuitive. Wise humans will instead seek to manage things in ways that don't exacerbate the negative and instead add only positives. I'll look forward to your future posts!
The tides here on the Chesapeake Bay are really big with those Kings-- our boatyard offices and rebuild facilities flood-- 6" of water to get to the restrooms...docks and electric way under. It's more real than anyone wants to admit. If you haven't seen the photos of Annapolis a few weeks ago, downtown really gets hit. Feet of water. Thanks for emphasizing the problem. ~J
“Paradoxically, since 2022, we’ve seen more real estate placed in harm’s way along our shorelines while local governments lack the political will to prevent it.” This is exactly what we’re seeing happening on Georgia’s coast too. Been happening for a while but it feels like it’s ramped up in the last handful of years. King tides, hurricanes, thunderstorm flooding… I’ll be pondering these same questions you pose here and pass them along to the nonprofit I work for doing this kind of work along our coast!
Thank you, Katie, it's a nationwide problem, and our policies seem to be making it worse.
A handful of years ago, a researcher/photographer spent time in the Chesapeake Bay area to document where the coastline will be in 2100. He used blue tape to mark new projected water levels and measuring sticks to indicate how much of a person or structure standing there today would be submerged. Sobering, to say the least. We are already at sea level, here, and "sinking." https://www.michaelosnyder.com/thecomingcoast
Thanks for what you're doing. It might not matter in the end, but we have to operate as if if will.
Great visuals. Thanks for sharing!
Forgot to mention that I'm in the mix of those pictured. Wearing a wool poncho. ☺️
Why so you are, with the blossoms!
Great to read this. Thank you for the work you do, John.
Thank you, Mary Beth.
Spoke to my friend Shaun yesterday, NOAA fisheries Alaska, and he still has a job. Hope you’re OK.
Did I ever ask you if you know Will Stelle?
I do not know Will, either, but I'm glad to hear Shaun is still in the game. Me, too, and thankful for that.
I'm glad to hear it. Will was Regional Administrator of the West Coast Division, National Marine Fisheries Service, went on to found Washington Water Trust, and is now board chair of our local land trust. A good guy!
A few months back, plumbers working on pipes under the Stanwood library encountered the water level less than a foot under the crawl space dirt. The old town was built on an estuary flood plain that was taken from the sea by farmers who saw building dikes by hand as a practical way of obtaining farmland that was rich in nutrients. Land along the state highway out to Camano Island became a town. The library was originally a building used by a local brass band, which shared the space with the library, beginning in 1922. Now the flat estuary land is just a few feet above sea level. The City of Stanwood last year completed a master planning process good for 20 years, to somewhere in the 2040s. Not a mention of sea level rise or taking climate change into account.
You should take a drive from one end of 271st (main st) to the other. The next IPCC assessment of sea level indications is being assembled this week.
Yes, I’m familiar with Stanwood. The flood prediction maps are scary. Part of it will remain, but it will be an island.
Natural systems have a quiet and persistent way of suggesting that we humans can't control everything. Our emphasis on growth rather than resilience is wildly counterintuitive. Wise humans will instead seek to manage things in ways that don't exacerbate the negative and instead add only positives. I'll look forward to your future posts!
Thank you!
So grateful for the work you do, John!
Thank you Nia!