Coastal
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A new study by UGA scientists shows that over the last three decades, the area of Georgia’s coast covered by spartina, or marsh grass, has decreased by 35% based on satellite measurements. They attribute the decline to frequent droughts over the period, combined with increasing temperatures and increased snail activity in the latter half of…
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Scientific American has an article this month on the construction that is continuing to take place on the Florida coast even as sea levels are rising and nuisance flooding is increasing. Some of the measures that homeowners are using to adapt are higher sea walls, elevating their properties, and building codes which require higher foundations. You…
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AccuWeather put together a nice summary of indicators of changing climate in their post today at https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/climatechange/update-on-climate-change-indic/58459419. This article pulls together graphs of changes in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, carbon dioxide measurements, and global temperature and presents them in a straightforward way with just a little commentary for context.
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EarthSky noted on their blog this morning that today is World Oceans Day. It is a celebration of all that is good with the world’s oceans. In honor of the occasion, they have some very nice ocean photos at https://earthsky.org/todays-image/your-best-ocean-photos. In addition, they published a link to NASA’s Perpetual Ocean, a visualization of ocean currents around…
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This week is Hurricane Awareness week for NOAA. All week the National Weather Service will be providing information about hurricanes and tropical storm risk. In the Southeast we are particularly vulnerable to Atlantic hurricanes, and after more than ten years without a strong storm, it feels like we are overdue for one. Today’s blog post…
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Last fall Seeker.com posted an article describing the vegetation changes that are being seen in the Florida Everglades due to rising sea levels. The article notes that “Salt-loving mangroves in the Everglades have marched inland in the past decade, while freshwater plants — such as saw grass, spike rush and tropical hardwood trees — lost…
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I’ve been attending the Southeast Coastal Community of Practice meeting this week at Tybee Island GA. Yesterday we had the chance to visit the new installation of a “living shoreline” at the Ben Burton 4-H camp nearby. This allows a more natural form of protection to prevent coastal erosion from rising sea levels than a…