Finding fixes for sea rise requires fresh approach
THE PALM BEACH POST EDITORIAL BOARD mission is to articulate the issues of the day, advocate for policies for the betterment of the community and encourage a civil and robust exchange of ideas. The Board consists of Executive Editor Rick Christie, Editorial Page Editor Tony Doris and Editorial Writer Douglas C. Lyons.
The 28th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — known as the Conference of the Parties or COP28 — just wrapped up in Dubai after two weeks of contentious talks. In the end, 200 countries called for a transition away from fossil fuels “in a just, orderly and equitable manner while accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.”
I take a long game perspective — taking steps, now, to set the table for long-term success — but regardless of this step forward, the reality is that the commitment made at COP28 isn’t moving us fast enough.
We must all work to make a transition away from the carbon emissions from fossil fuels, a reality in order to protect us from a range of impacts, including rising seas that threaten many coastal economies.
It’s clear we need a different way of looking at this challenge.
While climate talks have been framed as staying under 2 degrees Celsius, ideally 1.5, we need an additional metric to weigh whether we are meeting this challenge for the safety and prosperity of the people inhabiting the planet.
The year 2023 will go down as the warmest on record and in July we even briefly exceeded 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels. Now is the time to recalibrate with a new metric and bring clarity to what’s at risk and how to protect this place we call home.
How many people know — at a practical level — what it means to warm 1.5 or 2.0 degrees Celsius and its effects? Very few comprehend the consequences and for a U.S. audience, the goal being in Celsius makes it even more confusing for lay people and also easier for fossil fuel promoters to greenwash with the idea we can adapt our way out of the problem.
We must shift the dialogue to one that is understandable in practical terms for the broadest audience because how we have framed this crisis is not moving the needle fast enough.
The fact is that Florida has seen a foot of sea rise since the 1960s. Another foot is baked in even if we turned the CO2 spigot off tomorrow. The costs become exponentially higher to adapt as we see sewage systems backing up into streets, inland flooding, rain bombs, saltwater intrusion into freshwater supplies and insurance going through the roof — if you can get it.
Rising seas threaten the pillars of Florida’s economy — tourism, agriculture, real estate, construction and ports. .......................................... Rick Christie ..................................... Tony Doris
While there is a need to adapt to rising seas and other climate impacts, the fact is that there is an upper limit to the sea rise that coastal areas and island nations can withstand and still remain economically viable.
Rising seas threaten the pillars of Florida’s economy — tourism, agriculture, real estate, construction and ports. The economic impacts may be different in different parts of the world but the basics are the same. We must adopt an upper limit on sea level rise, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions consistent with reducing it to the lowest possible level.
We cannot adapt our way out of the climate crisis. We can only avoid the worst impacts by dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But sadly, global emissions are at their highest level in history and continue to rise.
If passing the 1.5 degree temperature goal limit doesn’t wake us up, maybe understanding that massive action toward a clean energy transition is required to keep us all above water.
Simply put: We must immediately lower the rate of sea-level rise to the maximum extent possible. And the window for action is closing, so no time for delay.
Rafe Pomerance, a consultant to ReThink Energy Florida and the Upper Limit Project, is a distinguished senior Arctic policy fellow with the Woodwell Climate Research Center. This opinion piece was distributed by The Invading Sea website (www.the invadingsea.com), which posts news and commentary on climate change and other environmental issues affecting Florida.
Trump too scary to be president
After saying he’d be a “dictator for a day” if elected, Donald Trump’s latest words calling immigrants “poison in our bloodstream” are even more chilling and should send a ripple of fear down every spine of every human being in every nook and cranny of every hamlet in our nation.
Trump comes from a family of immigrants. The problem, as he sees it, is that the latest migration chain consists of people of various colors. As he said some time ago, Norwegians would be totally acceptable. This man is running for president of a country whose very ideals he’s intent on destroying. He admires leaders like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping;. Should he become president, he will attempt to turn America into a fascist state. Trump should inspire fear and revulsion in all of us who love our country.
Ellie Schweitzer, Palm Beach Gardens
Colleges filled with indoctrinated students
Re the Dec. 14 piece on students: I agree with most of it but the idea that college students’ anti-Israeli position is due to their limited historical experience ignores what has been happening on colleges campuses for decades. Many of these students have been indoctrinated in an ideology which insists that in any situation it’s imperative to identify the oppressor and the oppressed. So, it is not surprising that students at Harvard and other “elite” universities instantly decided that Israelis were the oppressors and the Palestinians were the oppressed.
Yes, antisemitism played a role in the students’ response but so did the intimidating atmosphere that can get you canceled by your fellow students.
However, threatening students as “pro-oppressor,”
Did you know there’s a Christmas episode of “The Flintstones”? It originally aired on Dec. 25, 1964, as part of the original cartoon series. In it, Fred gets a part-time job at Macyrock’s department store to help finance the family’s Christmas. Mr. Macyrock fires Fred for being his usual doofus self, but reconsiders when he learns that the store’s regular Santa Claus has the flu. Fred proves a natural at entertaining the children and by the end of his stint, Mr. Macyrock proclaims Fred as the best Santa they’ve ever had.
Oh, but that’s not the end of the story. On Christmas Eve, two of Santa’s elves, named Blinky and Twinky, appear to Fred as Macyrock’s is closing for the night. They explain to Fred that the real Santa Claus is sick and they ask him to help deliver presents to children around the world. As Fred steps in to save the day, we see him perched atop Santa’s sleigh shouting “Merry Christmas” in French, Italian, German, Dutch, English, and Swedish.
This is all very nice, until you do the math. And you think, “Wait a minute. The Flintstones took place in the Stone Age. That was two-and-a-half million years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem.”
But as Christmas has become increasingly secular, it’s entirely possible to celebrate the holiday like the Flintstones: completely devoid of faith. You can celebrate Christmas without any sense of what it’s about or why it matters.
Now, there’s nothing inherently wrong with this.
Jews in this instance, is met with a blind eye by university administrators.
John O’Shea, Palm Beach Gardens
Justified war outranks carnage concerns
I don’t understand why other Arab countries won’t take in any Palestinians and why have the Palestinians backed Hamas? Hamas started this. If Israel stops now, they will just attack Israel again. I know war is hell, and I hate to see all the carnage. When we bombed Japan, were there any concerns regarding their loss of life? No, we wanted the war to end to save our soldiers and civilians lives. How is that different now?
Lynne Teich, Lake Worth