If Sea Levels Rise While Your Head is Stuck in the Sand...Follow

They let people rebuild in areas that actually flood regularly despite the certainty of another flood, so I'm not sure why you'd be surprised they'd allow people to build in areas where only imaginary potential flooding might occur.

You honestly think that's the issue here?

I don't understand the problem (and I'm at work, so I can't watch the Colbert).

You're incredulous because North Carolina wants to limit the way in which one of their agencies can calculate future predicted sea levels? Or that they want to limit it to linear regression dating back only over a century and change?

This is true. I think it would be more accurate (both in reality and to the topic) to say "It wasn't caused by flooding due to rising sea levels caused by global warming." Global warming might have played an effect, but the article in question is about rising sea levels, not your run-of-the-mill storm-caused flooding in low lying areas.

At least that's how I read it?

Only the NC state agency can calculate sea level rise, and that agency can only use a linear formula for extrapolation.

Climate change aside all variables may not lead to a linear rate of sea rise.

National Flood Insurance is a federal program.

Private Insurance companies don't care if all your calculations, mandated by your short-sighted law-makers conclude that an area is not in a flood zone.

It's tells the experts how to do their job - down to what math to use.

What if NY passed a law telling stock-brokers that only the NY State Agency that governs banks could make market predictions and that they'd only make those predictions with this one over-simplified, highly-limiting formula?

Are these the same people wanting government 'out of their lives'?









Edited, Jun 5th 2012 10:25pm by Elinda

I don't have a strong opinion about this aside from pointing out the irony that the stock phrase of the deniers is "We don't have enough historical data to tell" and this law is specifically written to exclude any historical data prior to 1900.

Also, time to sell NC folks some real estate in the Maldives.

But if you visit afterward, it could be more interesting. Like snorkeling through a giant coral reef.

On a long enough time line, the average change in sea level is zero.

If you go back far enough, I'm sure you'll find someone pointing out that building a city six feet below sea level next to the ocean is probably a bad idea.

And how many major hurricanes have hit you directly?

We don't do that kind of thing down here.

Our last near miss was 1995 when there was a fear of ***** breaking from the heightened water level of the Maas and Waal rivers at the place where they are the closest together. Had the ***** broken at that time many homes would've been submerged in about 15 feet of water.
The last real disaster we've had was the North Sea flood of 1953.

There's a good reason people call the Dutch after major disasters involving water.

They make good Potato chips. I got fat once eating Old Dutch chips. Fortunately, I was only ten and grew right out of it.

I can't get Old Dutch out here.