In the Sunday Philadelphia Inquirer, reprinted from The New York Times, an article by Cornelia Dean discusses what all but American Republicans would view as strong evidence of climate change negatively effecting beaches, specifically Hawaii's.
Most beaches on the state's three largest islands are eroding, and the erosion is likely to accelerate as sea levels rise, the U.S. Geological survey is reporting...
The report says that over the last century, about 9 percent of the sandy coasts on the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, and maui has vanished. That's almost 14 miles of beach.
The article notes that Hawaii's loss of quality beaches is likely to accelerate due to its geologic history. The islands were formed due to plate techtonics bringing molten lava up, and as the plate movement moves on materials will compress, accelerating erosion.
Thus the Hawaiian islands face a bit of a double whammy, global warming and eventually cooling due to plate techtonic shifts.
Replenishing beach sand? Well, it costs 10 times the less then cheap cost of doing so on the East Coast of the U.S. A sort of suggested solution: RETREAT! Move back from the shore. (Yeah, like that's likely to happen with the 1% who must own the great bulk of such primo land).
Perhaps one solution for the 1% of the 1% is purchasing land on the top of the Andes and Himalayas (that semed to work out at the end of Waterworld).
I imagine this will cause House Republicans to instigate hearings on the dangers of global warming, right?
Below are a few notes on the poll.
1) The Arctic ice free wasn't included since it may well be ice free by 2020 (as anyone can plainly see).
2) The New Jersey shore should be a good case for the article's suggestion of retreat from the ocean. The barrier islands would then again truly be "barrier islands." Ocean City, for example, has the ocean frequently virtually up to the boardwalk even with some planting of seeded dunes. In the 1950s and 1960s the tides would frequently come in at night under the boardwalk (kind of cool for a kid). But further down the shore Wildwood has enormous beaches. But try to take away oceanfront insurance, especially for condos by the boardwalk of any Jersey resort.
And of course, Atlantic City should be relocated to the west of Route 9 and the Garden State Parkway, right? :)
Oops. Should be "Much of Greenland iceshelf CAVES off".
(can't edit it).