News Clips from Rising Seas Conference

29 Oct News Clips from Rising Seas Conference

Posted at 20:06h in Uncategorized by BillyK

RISING TIDES – ALL MEDIA CLIPS

 

Manchester Union Leader

‘Rising Tides’ summit in Hampton is the first to focus exclusively on the dangers of coastal flooding and sea level rise

By Jason Schreiber / October 25, 2015

 

WMUR-TV

Conference in Hampton focused on rising sea levels & flooding

By Mike Cronin  / October 25, 2015

 

Seacoast Online / Foster’s Daily Democrat / Portsmouth Herald / Hampton Union

Rising Tides summit presses for federal change

By Max Sullivan / October 25, 2021

 

NPR’s Here and Now (WBUR)

Rising Seas Are a Problem Across Party Lines

By Sam Evans-Brown / October 26, 2021

 

Newsday

Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans

October 23, 2021

 

Houston Chronicle

Cason, Zimmer: Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans

 

October 23, 2021

 

Manchester Union Leader

Another View — Robert Lister and Nancy Stiles: How can 95,000 miles of coast fit on Hampton Beach?

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20151019/OPINION02/151019290

October 18, 2021

 

New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR)

Coastal Officials Want More Attention Paid To Flooding Risk

By Sam Evans-Brown

http://nhpr.org/post/coastal-officials-want-more-attention-paid-flooding-risk

 

Seacoast Online – Portsmouth Herald, Foster’s, Hampton Union

Our coast needs attention before next disaster

http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20151019/NEWS/151019148/101053/OPINION

October 19, 2021

 

Florida Sun-Sentinel

Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans

Op-ed by Jim Cason and Dawn Zimmer

(to download) http://media.wix.com/ugd/5b552a_eab397347cec4db6a366c4be5f453dee.pdf

October 21, 2021

 

AP: New Hampshire hosts summit on coastal flooding

October 25, 2021

Over 100 placements including:

 

Concord Monitor, Granite Geek column

Who in NH is going to be hurt by climate change first? The coast, of course

By David Brooks

http://granitegeek.concordmonitor.com/2015/10/21/who-in-nh-is-going-to-be-hurt-by-climate-change-first-the-coasts-of-course/

October 21, 2021

 

Portsmouth Herald

Stiles, Lister hosting coastal flooding summit in Hampton

http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20151019/NEWS/151019087

October 19, 2021

 

 

Mayor to attend regional summit on sea level rise

Newburyport Daily News, Oct 24, 2021

 

Rep. Randy Davis taking part in national summit on coastal flooding/sea level rise

 

Rep. Davis Press Release (AL), Oct 22, 2021

 

 

Tour to give Hoboken a snapshot of flood protection projects in place since Sandy

 

HudsonRiver.com (NJ), Oct 22, 2021

 

 

New Hanover County Commissioner Rob Zapple to Attend National Summit on Coastal Infrastructure Issues

 

Real Estate Rama (NC), Oct 22, 2021

 

 

Warwick Mayor Avedisian To Attend Coastal Flooding Summit

 

NPR (RI), Oct 22, 2021

 

 

New Hanover County Commissioner Rob Zapple to Attend National Summit on Coastal Infrastructure Issues

 

Mayor Zapple Press Release (NC), Oct 21, 2021

 

 

Hoboken to Hold Sandy Recovery Tour

 

Hudson Magazine (NJ), Oct 21, 2021

 

 

Hoboken Residents Invited to 3 Year Anniversary Sandy Recovery Tour

 

Mayor Zimmer Press Release (NJ), Oct 21, 2021

 

 

Who in NH is going to be hurt by climate change first? The coast, of course

 

Concord Monitor (NH), Oct 21, 2021

 

 

Mayor Cason to Attend National Summit On Coastal Flooding and Sea Level Rise

 

Coral Gables Press Release (FL), Oct 21, 2021

 

 

Palm Beach County Commissioner Abrams attend coastal flooding summit

 

Palm Beach Post (FL), Oct 21, 2021

 

 

Mayor Cindy Lerner to attend National Summit on Increasing Threat of Coastal Flooding/ Sea Level Rise

 

Pinecrest Press Release (FL)

 

 

Coast Mayors to attend Rising Tides Conference in New Hampshire

 

WXXV-TV (AL), Oct 21, 2021

 

 

KDH mayor to attend Rising Tides Summit

 

Outer Banks Sentinel (NC), Oct 20, 2021

 

 

Palm Beach County Commissioner Abrams attend coastal flooding summit

 

Palm Beach County Post (FL), Oct 20, 2021

 

 

LaMear to participate in national summit on coastal flooding

 

The Daily Astorian (OR), Oct 20, 2021

 

 

Mayor taking Dauphin Island’s lessons, issues to national Rising Tides Summit

 

RESTORE Dauphin Island (AL), Oct 19, 2021

 

 

Dauphin Island mayor to attend ‘Rising Tides Summit’

 

Washington Times (DC), Oct 17, 2021

 

 

Lewes mayor to attend national summit on sea level rise

 

CapeGazette.com (DE), Oct 17, 2021

 

 

Dauphin Island mayor to attend ‘Rising Tides Summit’

 

Fox10-TV (AL)

 

 

Dauphin Island mayor to attend ‘Rising Tides Summit’

 

WAFF-TV (AL), Oct 17, 2021

 

 

Dauphin Island mayor to share community’s concerns at upcoming ‘Rising Tides Summit’

 

Daily Journal (AL), Oct 17, 2021

 

 

Dauphin Island mayor to attend ‘Rising Tides Summit’

 

WKRG (AL), Oct 17, 2021

 

 

Mayor Arline LaMear to Attend National Summit on Increasing Threat of Coastal Flooding/Sea Level Rise

 

Mayor LaMear Press Release (OR), Oct 17, 2021

 

 

RELEASE: Mayor Ted Becker to Attend National Summit on Increasing Threat of Coastal Flooding/Sea Level Rise

 

Mayor Becker Press Release (DE), Oct 14, 2021

 

 

Mayors to attend flooding summit

 

Houston Chronicle (TX), Oct 13

 

 

Seabrook mayor to attend national summit on increasing threat of coastal flooding

 

Bay Area Houston Magazine (TX), Oct 8, 2021

 

 

Mississippi Gulf Coast Mayors to Attend National Summit on Increasing Threat of Coastal Flooding/ Sea Level Rise

 

Mississippi Press Release, Oct 8, 2021

 

 

Mayor Glenn Royal to Attend National Summit on Increasing Threat of Coastal Flooding/sea Level Rise

 

ClearLakeToday.com (TX), Oct 7, 2021

 

 

Rep. Robert Foley to Attend National Summit on Threat of Coastal Flooding/Sea Level Rise

 

Rep. Foley Press Release (ME), Oct 7, 2021

 

 

 

 

Op-ed placements

Florida Sun-Sentinel

Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans

(to download) http://media.wix.com/ugd/5b552a_eab397347cec4db6a366c4be5f453dee.pdf

October 21, 2021

 

Newsday

Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans

http://www.newsday.com/opinion/oped/flooding-is-an-election-issue-for-123-million-americans-1.11001448

October 23, 2021

 

Houston Chronicle (and Chron.com)

Cason, Zimmer: Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans

http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Cason-Zimmer-Flooding-is-an-election-issue-for-6587640.php

October 23, 2021

 

Knoxville News Sentinel

Jim Cason and Dawn Zimmer: Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans,

http://www.knoxnews.com/opinion/columnists/jim-cason-and-dawn-zimmer-flooding-is-an-election-issue-for-123-million-americans_39286448

October 24, 2021

 

Savannah Morning News

Jim Cason and Dawn Zimmer: Coastal flooding is the next big election issue

http://savannahnow.com/column/2015-10-23/jim-cason-and-dawn-zimmer-coastal-flooding-next-big-election-issue

October 23, 2021

 

North Jersey.com

Opinion: The missing election issue: coastal flooding

http://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-guest-writers/the-missing-election-issue-flooding-1.1440819

October 25, 2021

 

York Dispatch

OP-ED: Flooding an election issue for 123 million Americans

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/opinion/ci_29023966/op-ed-flooding-an-election-issue-123-million

October 26, 2021

 

Gulf News

Jim Cason and Dawn Zimmer: Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans

http://gulftoday.ae/portal/5296031f-5ab7-45e6-867a-7732fc0cf614.aspx

October 24, 2021

 

Valley News

Coastal Flooding is a National Issue

http://www.vnews.com/home/19138203-95/column-coastal-flooding-is-a-national-issue

October 24, 2021

 

Bradenton Herald (FL)

Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans

http://www.bradenton.com/opinion/national-opinions/article41205960.html

October 25, 2021

 

Daily Commercial (FL)

Flooding: an election issue for many Americans

http://www.dailycommercial.com/opinion/article_8a9fb379-7d21-5a5e-bda3-4d951bd5617a.html

October 24, 2021

 

 

 

Full Stories:

Manchester Union Leader

‘Rising Tides’ summit in Hampton is the first to focus exclusively on the dangers of coastal flooding and sea level rise

HAMPTON — Nearly 40 elected officials from 18 coastal states are in Hampton this weekend to share their experiences and search for common ground at a national summit on the growing coastal flood threat.

The two-day summit called “Rising Tides 2015” is aimed at shining a national spotlight on flooding problems that have worsened with rising sea levels.

“It’s not once in a hundred years anymore,” said Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Billed as the first to focus exclusively on coastal flooding and sea level rise, the summit brought together a bipartisan group of mayors, elected officials and representatives from NOAA, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Navy and Army Corps of Engineers.

The summit is being held at the Ashworth by the Sea hotel and is hosted by state Sen. Nancy Stiles, R-Hampton, and Portsmouth Mayor Robert Lister, with support from nonprofits World Resources Institute and Union of Concerned Scientists.

Stiles said one of the common themes she’s heard has been what roles residents and federal, state, and local governments play.

While the officials came from different regions, they all delivered a similar message. They said coastal flooding should be viewed as a national concern and federal policy changes are needed to help the nation’s 23 states with coastal shorelines at increased risk.

“The coastal flooding issues that we’re facing are not just public safety but are also significant economic issues,” said Steve Abrams, a commissioner from Palm Beach County, Fla., whose region is still trying to cut through red tape after it was hit by three hurricanes in a 14-month period.

Some 123 million people live in coastal communities, which account for 45 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

Stiles and others called on the 2016 presidential candidates to listen to their concerns and discuss ways to work together.

In Hampton, Stiles said cottages around the marshes have been devastated by floods during high tides, especially during intense storms.

Flooding on Ocean Boulevard caused in part by poor drainage causes water to run down the street and into homes, she said.

The planning board must address those issues when considering new construction, said Stiles, who co-sponsored legislation to form a Coastal Risks and Hazards Commission.

Some property owners around the marshes have already raised their cottages, she said, but the water still floods, doesn’t drain quickly, and they may have to raise them again.

Protecting those areas is just one of her concerns.

“Personally, I think we should have done a little bit more before we did the renovations of the state properties. I think we should have thought a little bit ahead to make sure we have ways to protect those,” said Stiles, referring to the state’s $14 million redevelopment project completed in … that significantly improved facilities along Hampton Beach State Park.

Dawn Zimmer, mayor of Hoboken, N.J., shared some of the steps her city is taking in the wake of the massive flooding during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. One step was a push to stop future waterfront development.

“The policies need to change at the federal level to support taking a comprehensive approach,” she said.

jschreiber@newstote.com

- See more at: http://www.unionleader.com/article/20151025/NEWS11/151029394&template=mobileart#sthash.Y0pSYMh2.dpuf

 

 

Conference in Hampton focused on rising sea levels & flooding

Elected leaders from 18 states attended

WMUR-TV, Mike Cronin

HAMPTON, N.H. —Dozens of elected leaders were in Hampton on Saturday for a bipartisan conference on rising sea levels. 18 of the 23 coastal states were represented.

The group discussed what needs to be done to prevent significant damage from severe weather in the future.

State senator Nancy Stiles said flooding is an issue in Hampton. “Not only is it destroying the road, it’s destroying the marsh so we have to figure a way to actually come together and not make this such a partisan issue,” she said.

Officials said climate change is causing coastal flooding and higher sea levels. “We have to move beyond the question, is it real? It is real. The science is there. Climate change is happening,” said Mayor Donna Holaday, from Newburyport, Mass.

The administration of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was one of the speakers at Saturday’s conference at the Ashworth By The Sea hotel.

According to NOAA, flooding has increased on all three U.S. Coasts by more than 3005 since the 1960s.

“These are real intrusions into people’s homes,’ said NOAA Administrator Dr. Kathryn Sullivan. “These are real disruptions of businesses. These are real public safety and national defense disruption issues.”

Leaders in attendance said they’d like to see this issue discussed among presidential candidates. “The policies need to change at the federal level to support taking a comprehensive approach,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer, from Hoboken, N.J.

To tackle the problem, organizers said funding and support is needed. “I think that it’s time we stop discussing what we need to do and start taking actions to protect our coastal communities. We as state and local governments need more assistance in doing that from the federal government,” said VA State Delegate Chris Stolle.

The conference wraps up Sunday.

 

http://www.wmur.com/news/conference-in-hampton-focused-on-rising-sea-levels-flooding/36030408

 

 

 

Cason, Zimmer: Flooding is an election issue for 123 million Americans

By Jim Cason and Dawn Zimmer

 

 

Photo: Thomas B. Shea, Freelance

A tractor trailer is seen with the Houston Skyline in the background in the flood waters on 288 and McGregor in the Medical Center on Tuesday, May 26, 2022 in Houston, TX (Photo: Thomas B. Shea/For the Chronicle)

 

 

 

 

As we enter the next presidential election season, there’s a looming issue that affects more than 123 million Americans, approximately one-third of the U.S. population. It’s an issue that has enormous implications for people’s security, jobs and the economy. Yet we do not hear many politicians, including the current presidential candidates, talking about it.

 

What’s this issue? Coastal flooding and sea-level rise.

 

More than 45 percent of America’s GDP is tied to our coasts. More than 66 million jobs are at stake, totaling $3.4 trillion in wages.

 

Recent historic flooding in South Carolina underscores just how dangerous and costly flooding can be. Hundreds of people were displaced, roads were unpassable and businesses were shut down for days. In many places, it’s not just the big storms and near-misses, like Hurricane Joaquin, that leave people worried. It’s also “sunny day flooding” that’s happening more regularly as high tides push water past the beaches and onto local streets as sea levels rise.

 

Many cities and towns are suffering from increased flooding, including so-called nuisance flooding that affects roads, drainage systems and other infrastructure. According to NOAA, nuisance flooding increased between 300 percent and 900 percent along all three U.S. coasts since the 1960s. Much of this flooding is being accelerated by sea-level rise associated with our changing climate.

 

Many officials in cities and towns are already addressing increased coastal flooding. Mayors are on the front lines. We worry all the time about preparedness and resiliency planning. We know it makes no sense to wait until disasters strike to think about what we could have done, when preventative measures are a cost-effective way to avoid damage and destruction.

 

The stakes are huge. In Florida, tourism is the biggest industry, bringing in nearly $72 billion in 2012. If beach towns become inundated, money for repairing and moving vital infrastructure will instead become a drain on city budgets, state finances and federal agencies. The same is true in urban metro areas up and down our coasts.

 

As we approach the three-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, we’re reminded of the devastation that hit the New York-New Jersey area. The toll was severe, costing the people of Hoboken $100 million in private property damage, crippling businesses and shutting down our public transportation system. As the sea level rises, coastal flooding, stormwater drainage challenges and other related problems are expected to get worse.

 

That’s why a diverse and bipartisan group of more than 35 mayors and local elected officials are gathering this weekend in Hampton, N.H., to discuss local and national responses to coastal flooding. We’ll speak with fellow mayors, state officials and representatives from federal agencies who are responsible for studying, insuring and protecting our coastlines. We’ll also hear from security experts in the U.S. Navy, who will explain how sea-level rise driven by climate change poses a long-term threat to military facilities and our fleets around the world.

 

This is a truly bipartisan event, with more Republicans than Democrats in attendance. The ocean doesn’t care if we are conservative or liberal; either way it’s moving closer to our homes and businesses.

 

The monumental scale of this problem demands the attention of our national leaders. It’s an issue that should be of concern for any elected official who wants to strengthen the U.S. economy and protect our communities. With so much at stake, there’s no time for partisan bickering or attempts to skirt the issue. The 123 million Americans who live in coastal counties need action.

 

That’s why we’re calling on all presidential candidates, regardless of their party, to take a stand and tell us what they’ll do to address coastal flooding and sea-level rise. What measures will they take to support local communities facing rising tides? What action will they take to prevent more damage over the long term?

 

America’s leaders can’t afford to stick their heads in the sand, because if they do, in just a few years, that sand may just be gone.

 

Cason, a Republican, is mayor of Coral Gables, Fla. Dawn Zimmer, a Democrat, is mayor of Hoboken, N.J. They wrote this for the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.

 

http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Cason-Zimmer-Flooding-is-an-election-issue-for-6587640.php

 

 

Another View — Robert Lister and Nancy Stiles: How can 95,000 miles of coast fit on Hampton Beach?

By ROBERT LISTER and NANCY STILES

October 18, 2021

Coastal flooding is getting worse across the United States. As Hurricane Joaquin showed us, heavy rains and tidal inundation can be devastating even when big storms don’t make landfall. Even where there is no storm at all, many towns and cities are grappling with so-called “sunny day” flooding as high tides creep further and further into areas where people live and work.

In New Hampshire, our coastline is a small but important resource. The seacoast is home to 25 percent of NH’s workforce and more than $64 billion in insured property. It is also home to power plants, cultural resources like the Oceanic House and Strawbery Banke, hundreds of local businesses and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Thanks in part to research by a team of scientists led by the University of New Hampshire and accepted by the legislatively established New Hampshire Coastal Risks and Hazards Commission, we know the threats coastal flooding poses to our community well.

But coastal flooding is more than a New Hampshire issue; the impacts on coastal communities are a national issue and one that hasn’t received nearly as much attention as it deserves. More than 123 million Americans live in vulnerable coastal counties, not to mention the trillions of dollars in assets and millions of jobs dotting our coastlines.

Coastal flooding is too important of an issue to continue to be ignored by our most important leaders. The ocean doesn’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, we all feel the impacts equally. The ocean is increasingly lapping up to our doors and pouring into our basements, whether it’s in Dauphin Island, Alabama; Pismo Beach, California; Coral Gables, Florida; Hoboken, New Jersey; or here in Portsmouth and Hampton, New Hampshire. Some communities are just starting to evaluate risks to critical infrastructure, homes, the local economy, tourism, ports and more, while others have done years of analysis and put flood resiliency plans in place, but still lack state and federal funding support.

That’s why we have invited a bipartisan group of more than 35 mayors and local elected officials to Hampton Beach for the Rising Tides Summit on coastal flooding. With 19 of the U.S.’s 23 coastal states represented, this summit is truly the largest bipartisan gathering on the local impacts of coastal flooding ever assembled.

Our mutual desire is that this summit illustrates how local politics does indeed stop at the water’s edge, and that national partisanship must stop at the shore as well. We hope by convening local elected officials from all three U.S. coasts and Alaska we can, with one clear voice, encourage all candidates for the highest office in the land to confront flooding that directly threatens more than one-third of our citizens.

We’ve been able to bring this bipartisan group to New Hampshire because local officials understand that we all have a stake in protecting our coastal communities. All of us grapple with the severe economic consequences of present and future coastal flooding and believe it deserves a place of prominence on the national agenda. Especially at a time when, as Granite State residents know well, things are ramping up in the presidential race.

The mayors and local officials attending the Rising Tides summit are sharing their experiences and working together on this issue because we understand that coastal flooding and its very real impacts matter to people far more than political party affiliation. We’re bringing more than 95,000 miles of coastline to one strip of New Hampshire beach this weekend because we need to start investing in preparation rather than simply responding to recurring coastal flooding damage and disaster. And it’s time presidential candidates — especially those from coastal states — address coastal flooding and its enormous economic costs.

Democrat Robert Lister is mayor of Portsmouth. State Sen. Nancy Stiles (R-Hampton) represents District 24.

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20151019/OPINION02/151019290#sthash.Q7HQG0Hg.dpuf

 

 

Coastal communities need to address sea-level rise

Rising Tide Summit to be held in Hampton Oct. 23-25

 

 

By Robert Lister and Nancy Stiles
Posted Oct. 19, 2015 at 12:57 PM

In New Hampshire, coastal flooding is posing an immediate, growing and severe threat to citizens, businesses, property and vital infrastructure. Even with only 18 miles of coastline, New Hampshire’s Seacoast Region is home to 25 percent of the state’s workforce. The insured value of properties in our coastal counties is $64 billion, according to a 2013 study by risk modeling consultants AIR Worldwide.

Flooding in these communities is a threat that no elected official — regardless of political affiliation — can sit back and ignore. That’s why we, a Republican and a Democrat, have teamed up to host Rising Tides, a summit that will bring together local elected officials from around the country to find real solutions to more frequent flooding, rising seas and citizens’ vulnerabilities to their effects.

It’s a long-overdue conversation with both sides of the political spectrum, because New Hampshire is hardly the only state threatened by rising seas. Across the nation, more than 123 million Americans live in communities vulnerable to coastal flooding, accounting for nearly half the country’s GDP.

National attention to these issues is almost always restricted to disaster response in the wake of storms or unprecedented flooding, like that which took place in South Carolina earlier this month. The spotlight is rarely shined on equally serious threats, such as “sunny-day” flooding and encroaching tides, not to mention the hard work local leaders are doing to prepare, secure and protect their communities. Rising tides are a very real and costly threat to communities in the states in which presidential candidates reside—Florida, Texas, New York, South Carolina, New Jersey and California— we should therefore expect the costs to our nation from coastal flooding and sea level rise to become part of the public debate at the national level.

The Rising Tides Summit in Hampton on Oct. 23-25th will, for the first time, bring together a bipartisan group of 35 mayors and local elected officials to tackle the issues of coastal flooding and sea level rise. With 18 of the 23 coastal states represented, it’s an unprecedented group for an unprecedented problem.

The Summit will afford local officials from as far away as California, Texas and Florida the opportunity to share what they’ve learned about dealing with the effects of coastal flooding, like flooding basements, overflowing sewers, and crumbling infrastructure. They’ll hear from their peers around the country—from Hoboken, New Jersey, Dauphin Island, Alabama and Newport Beach, California. Officials will meet with national experts, including the NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan and senior representatives from the Navy, the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA, to discuss how federal agencies can provide effective support to the local communities on the front lines. The Summit will also make clear that anyone who aspires to an elected office representing coastal communities needs to have a plan to respond to sea level rise and the sources that cause it.

The problem is at our doorstep. And as we’re already seeing in New Hampshire, it is our communities that deal with the costly consequences of America’s changing shoreline.

Last month the Rockingham Planning Commission, with assistance from town staff and residents from Seabrook to New Castle, completed their assessments of the vulnerability of New Hampshire’s coastal municipalities and public infrastructure to flooding from expected increases in storm surge and rates of sea-level rise. According to their report, absent proper planning today, these communities “face a multitude of challenges to ensure the security, health and welfare of their citizens and provide for a stable and viable economic future.”

Some U.S. communities are just starting to evaluate risks to critical infrastructure, homes, the local economy, tourism and more. Others have done years of analysis and have flood resiliency plans in place, but still lack state and federal support or coordination. These officials—be they Republican, Democrat or Independent—understand the need for assertive and innovative action to stem the tides. We all need to work together to keep the ocean out of our streets, businesses, basements and schools.

Robert Lister, a Democrat, is the Mayor of Portsmouth, N.H. Nancy Stiles, a Republican, is a resident of Hampton and the Senator from New Hampshire Senate District 24.

http://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20151019/NEWS/151019148/101053/OPINION

 

 

 

Concord Monitor

Who in NH is going to be hurt by climate change first? The coast, of course

October 21, 2021

By David Brooks

 

There’s a big and interesting-looking summit coming to Hampton this weekend, called Rising Tides, to discuss ways that coastal communities can cope with rising sea levels and more violent, if not necessary more frequent, storms. It’s invitation only and already booked, but you can learn more about it here.

 

Speakers include officials from NOAA and FEMA, covering the prediction and the reaction side of things, plus a Navy rear admiral. I hadn’t thought about it, but the Navy has a lot of facilities that will be affected by all this – their aren’t a lot of inland Navy bases.

 

The hosts, one a Democrat and one a Republican wrote an op-ed piece in the statewide paper, the Union-Leader, trying to get people to pay more attention to what is going to be a very expensive problem. Expensive? Just ask Miami, which faces regular flooding plain old high tides, known as “king tides.” Imagine what that would do to Hampton Beach tourism.

 

There is a little irony in the fact that a coastline session is being held in New Hampshire, which has the shortest ocean coastline of any state that borders the sea (assuming you measure it one way and not the other, that is).

 

http://granitegeek.concordmonitor.com/2015/10/21/who-in-nh-is-going-to-be-hurt-by-climate-change-first-the-coasts-of-course/