Warming Cycle

   There is no doubt that global warming is happening. The issue is how much people contribute to it, and how they can back off.

   It doesn't take a scientist to know that the earth's climate is changing. Many can remember ice skating on the town pond, and photos show people skating on Central Park Lake in Manhattan.
   That doesn't happen anymore.
   Many can remember when mockingbirds were never seen north of Virginia. Today, they are seen in Northern New Jersey all year.
   Experts have documented warming cycles on the earth over many millennia, with dinosaur fossils found in cold-weather areas that could not have supported semi-tropical life forms eons ago.
   Oil found in Alaska or in Middle Eastern desert areas means that millions of years ago they were lush with carbon-based plant life forms.
   Satellite photos show dry land that once was covered by glaciers.
   This week, yet another scientific study confirmed that the overall temperature of the earth is rising, and that human activity is the major contributor, as carbon-based fuels send up gasses to form a sort of greenhouse to keep heat closer to the earth's surface.

   So what is a major consequence of global warming? Rising sea levels, as polar ice caps melt. And a major consequence of rising sea levels is coastal flooding.

   Of the ten major cities worldwide that are most vulnerable to coastal flooding from rising sea levels, five are in America -- all in the East and South.
   A new study by the World Bank listed Boston, New York, Tampa, Miami and New Orleans as at the highest risk of damage from coastal flooding.
   The top ten, worldwide, according to the World Bank, are 1/ Guangzhou, China; 2/ Miami; 3/ New York; 4/ New Orleans; 5/ Mumbai, India; 6/ Nagoya, Japan; 7/ Tampa; 8/ Boston; 9/ Shenzen, China, and 10/ Osaka, Japan.

   "Coastal defenses reduce the risk of floods today," said World Bank senior economist Stephane Hallegatte, but they also attract population and more building, thus putting them at greater risk if the defense fails or if an event overwhelms the defense.
   That's what happened in New Orleans as Hurricane Katrina hit, and the most sorely affected were the poor. Moreover, this is true worldwide, Hallegatte wrote. "The poor are most at risk as rapid urbanization has pushed them into the most vulnerable neighborhoods, often in low-lying areas and along waterways prone to flooding," the economist wrote.