Sea rise threatens Florida coast, but no statewide plan

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Rick Scott's legacy?

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — America's oldest city is slowly drowning.

St. Augustine's centuries-old Spanish fortress and other national landmarks sit feet from the encroaching Atlantic, whose waters already flood the city's narrow, brick-paved streets about 10 times a year — a problem worsening as sea levels rise. The city has long relied on tourism, but visitors to the fortress and Ponce de Leon's mythical Fountain of Youth might someday have to wear waders at high tide.

"If you want to benefit from the fact we've been here for 450 years, you have the responsibility to look forward to the next 450," said Bill Hamilton, a 63-year-old horticulturist whose family has lived in the city since the 1950s. "Is St. Augustine even going to be here? We owe it to the people coming after us to leave the city in good shape."

St. Augustine is one of many chronically flooded communities along Florida's 1,200-mile coastline, and officials in these diverse places share a common concern: They're afraid their buildings and economies will be further inundated by rising seas in just a couple of decades. The effects are a daily reality in much of Florida. Drinking water wells are fouled by seawater. Higher tides and storm surges make for more frequent road flooding from Jacksonville to Key West, and they're overburdening aging flood-control systems.

But the state has yet to offer a clear plan or coordination to address what local officials across Florida's coast see as a slow-moving emergency. Republican Gov. Rick Scott is skeptical of man-made climate change and has put aside the task of preparing for sea level rise, an Associated Press review of thousands of emails and documents pertaining to the state's preparations for rising seas found.

Despite warnings from water experts and climate scientists about risks to cities and drinking water, skepticism over sea level projections and climate change science has hampered planning efforts at all levels of government, the records showed. Florida's environmental agencies under Scott have been downsized and retooled, making them less effective at coordinating sea level rise planning in the state, the documents showed.


-more-

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/sea-rise-threatens-florida-coast-but-no-statewide-plan/ar-BBjy2pG

[cantbeserious]

1. Wait - I Thought That Global Climate Change Was Not Real - So Confused

eom

[Jackpine Radical]

2. I have a surreptitiously taken photo of the official FL Environmental Planning Committee

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Most excellent !

[HooptieWagon]

3. There's little that can be done except move.

Levees won't work in Florida. Ground is porous limestone, water will just come up from below.

[HassleCat]

4. No Sea Level Increase

St. Augustine is sinking. This is Jesus's punishment for allowing naughty things to go on. You know, dancing and drinking and sodomy and eating shellfish and wearing mixed fabrics.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. What about divided skirts and allowing witches to live?

I mean, these people gotta be way high on God's shit list.

[HassleCat]

8. Those Things Too

Yes, yes, yes. I hope I am not smited for compiling an incomplete list.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. I visited St. Augustine in 1987.

Even then the Atlantic was close to the level of the ground.

Really cool place, btw...it feels ancient and very foreign still.
There is much history about it that most people do not know.
If you ever go, before it is time for waders, splurge for the horse and carriage guided tour, it is well worth getting all that info from the guides.
The one place I would like to go see again.