lightblueline

The National Environmental Trust has posted a set of animations showing how the IPCC-predicted sea-level rise and a hurricane would effect cities up and down the eastern seaboard. The site has a load of educational information about climate change and its environmental effects.

Use this link to view: Animations of Sea-level Rise

In Sunday's New York Times (June 16, 2007, Art & Design Section) Randy Kennedy wrote about Eve Mosher's efforts to "draw the line" in NYC.

Eve is the creative force behind HighWaterLine. In partnership with the Canary Project (which is also partnering with lightblueline on the Santa Barbara City Hall exhibit), Eve is out in the streets of New York, chalking the 10 foot elevation line as this runs through the buroughs.

NYT June 16, 2007
photo by:Kitra Cahana

This image is from the CIESIN website. It is part of a project co-authored by New York liner Deborah Balk. The maps are hosted by the NASA SEDAC program at Columbia University:
Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center
You can view all the maps and the report here:
LOW ELEVATION COASTAL ZONE (LECZ) URBAN-RURAL ESTIMATES

The Seattle Times (March 28, 2007) previews a report coming out soon about the threat to coastal cities. Deborah Balk, one of the report's authors, is a liner in New York City! The report outlines vulnerabilities for coastal cities around the world:

"More than two-thirds of the world's large cities are in areas vulnerable to global warming and rising sea levels, and millions of people are at risk of being swamped by flooding and intense storms, according to a new study released today.

The lightblueline action in New York City has just begun! Stay tuned to more information here!

The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports in the last decade or so have been predicting the potential for a modest sea level rise, and a possibility of more rapid sea level rise after the 21st century. More recent studies, based on new satellite information and on-site observations in Greenland and elsewhere suggest that the rapid sea-level rise scenario may be more likely than previously thought. Note: IPCC climate models do not account for prior instances of rapid sea-level change (source: See link below for Hansen, James.2006."The Threat to the Planet: Actions Required to Avert Dangerous Climate Change").