Katrina’s effects on New Orleans may have been a preview of what will happen to many more coastal cities if we continue to ignore global warming. This New York Times article points out that the floating cap of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean shrank this summer to what is probably its smallest size in a century.
And the Times editorial board argues what that could mean for coastal cities in the United States: “According to one government study, a 20-inch rise in sea level by 2100 could put 3,500 square miles of the southern coast of the United States underwater — rendering efforts to restore the Everglades and the Louisiana coastline essentially pointless. A large-scale breakup of the polar ice sheets would, of course, make matters much worse. Dikes could protect some regions, like Manhattan and the Netherlands, but most coastlines would be inundated.”
Posted by Melissa Cooley
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