Fire & Water

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Illustration by Rob Pybus for a New York Times editorial:

'For this piece I had to depict the struggle going on in NY the moment concerning sea defenses on Fire Island. For the most part its seen as a waste of money and a danger to the environment.'

London flood risk: Map shows areas of the capital most in danger

Independent article on London's floor risk areas:

'More than 300,000 homes in London are at risk of flooding from the Thames and the capital’s numerous other rivers, according to a new report.
  
Groundsure, an environmental risk consultancy, used Environment Agency and census data to calculate the places most in danger of damage.

Hammersmith and Fulham was found to be the worst borough for potential flooding, with almost 60,000 homes – 60 per cent of the borough - at risk.'

Florida is sinking

Rising, Rising

New York City Panel on Climate Change has released a new report detailing how climate scientists expect New York City to change over over the next 100 years, focusing on projected increases in temperature and sea level [Via Wired]

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

'The coastal sea levels along the Northeast Coast of North America show significant year-to-year fluctuations in a general upward trend. The analysis of long-term tide gauge records identified an extreme sea-level rise (SLR) event during 2009–10. Within this 2-year period, the coastal sea level north of New York City jumped by 128 mm. This magnitude of interannual SLR is unprecedented (a 1-in-850 year event) during the entire history of the tide gauge records. Here we show that this extreme SLR event is a combined effect of two factors: an observed 30% downturn of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during 2009–10, and a significant negative North Atlantic Oscillation index. The extreme nature of the 2009–10 SLR event suggests that such a significant downturn of the Atlantic overturning circulation is very unusual. During the twenty-first century, climate models project an increase in magnitude and frequency of extreme interannual SLR events along this densely populated coast.'

 'An extreme event of sea-level rise along the Northeast coast of North America in 2009–2010' by Paul B. Goddard, Jianjun Yin, Stephen M. Griffies & Shaoqing Zhang in Nature Communications, 6

[Coverage of the article on the BBC and on Phys.org]

Bradwell Juxta Mare

Troubled Coastlines - From Louisiana To Maine

A great two-parter podcast from Sea Change Radio featuring interviews with  journalist Bob Marshall and former Maine State Representative Seth Berry (Part 1, Part 2).

In Part 1 there's also a link to Losing Ground by Bob Marshall, a fascinating interactive article on Louisiana’s imperiled shores.