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Seth Wenig / AP
This file photo shows homes destroyed by Superstrom Sandy fronting the beach in the Rockaways section of New York.
For anyone who lives in a coastal region of the U.S. — and about half of the population does — climate change is already making life harder. And the bad news is, it's only going to get worse as the sea level rises, storms strengthen and erosion accelerates, according to a new government report.
"Impacts on coastal systems are among the most costly and most certain consequences of climate change," Virginia Burkett, the chief scientist for climate and land-use change at the U.S. Geological Survey, told NBC News.
Coastal regions contributed $8.3 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2011.
Burkett is a co-lead author of the coastal impacts report, which is a technical input to the federally commissioned National Climate Assessment that was released in draft form earlier this month. That report noted that climate change is already disrupting life in the U.S. and warns those disruptions are set to worsen.
The coastal report’s findings about the consequences of climate change are familiar — rising seas, increased storminess, floods and erosion threaten to cripple sewers, roads and power plants, for example.
What’s new, Burkett said, is that this familiarity has nudged coastal communities to at least begin planning adaptation strategies — things such as moving infrastructure inland, constructing seawalls and preserving barrier islands.
"The problem, however, is that the implementation of the plans is lagging," Burkett said. That may be because people see climate change as a gradual process, leaving them time to build projects such as new roads and sewer systems as older systems fall into disrepair and project funding is secured.
The need for adaptation, Burkett added, is driven by two factors: experience and science. Recent events such as the impact of superstorm Sandy on New York and New Jersey and the record loss of summer sea ice in the Artic in summer 2012 are opening eyes to the reality of climate change and need to adapt.
Adding to the urgency is the rising cost we are already paying for climate change, Bob Deans, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told NBC News.
"Congress just wrapped up this week part two of a what is going to be a $60 billion aid package to those northeastern cities that suffered from Superstorm Sandy," he said. "$60 billion is the amount of money that was raised by the fiscal cliff talks earlier this year … that is being zeroed out."
The act of seeing the cost of climate change on the ledger, so to speak, makes climate change an issue to contend with today. It is no longer a theoretical threat we may face in the future, Deans added.
"What we are seeing right now is that the price tag is coming due."
John Roach is a contributing writer for NBC News. To learn more about him, check out his website.
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We need a definitive federal assessment of this situation and depending on the impartial outcome make the proper decisions. Enough of the division it creates.
If water is rising then it needs to be public knowledge so that people can make their decisions individually. If it is rising but reversible if adequate action is taken then the public should be made aware of it. Too much money and lives are at stake here. America alone doesn't affect the CO2 level in the air with 300 million people. If it is rising and the other 6 billion people don't accept international standards then people need to be informed of it. It is pretty simple really.
America alone does affect it; not as much as all the 'developed' and 'developing' peoples combined, obviously, but per capita we may affect it more than any other nation. It really isn't that simple, that's why it's important not to deny the science, because the science at least represents an attempt to be truthful, whereas the politics is insolubly conflicted.
That IS all public knowledge, at least potentially. But much of the public is easily swayed by the disinformation campaign, and most of the rest just don't care.
The average ocean temperature as of 2011 has risen 45/1000 degree Fahrenheidt in the 50 years from 1961-2011. At that rate, it'll only be about 2,200 years for it to rise 1 degree. That is, unless solar activity or fluctuations in magma temperature cause a different effect. The Antarctic ice is being melted by increased volcanic activity in a "ring of fire" under the ocean that encircles the Antarctic continental tectonic plate.
LOL. deniers will say anything.
The us could stop all fossil fuels tomorrow and global warming would still go up as China is putting up coal plants left and right. In fact, most of the co2 in the world is caused by mine fires in china. So, as far as we are all concerned, get ready to do some swimming on the coast lines. I don't believe though that increases in storm levels are caused by the warming. There are just too many people living on the coast lines and sooner or later somethings gonna hit.
Sandy was NOT a result of man's co2 output. And when man REALLY does affect the climate and it finally SNAPS, it ain't the heat that is gonna be the problem, IT"S THE DAMNED COLD. Co2 is not the problem...if you want to jump up and donw about a gas released by man, go all super critical about the krypton, or stfu.
No one says beans about all the helium wasted by sheer bleed off, and h2no3 has been off the table for decades now (why? you really believe those emissions were solved?) and steam production by man is considered benign, cept when nasa realized what would happen if all the cars had h2o fuel cells...this only the start. carbon monoxide is a REAL poison. But c02 is a gas that we could go above 10 percent and still live with, sadly a few politicians got a bad understanding of equilibrium and ran with it, BUT real scientists are always adding the "it appears" and " perhaps" or at worst, "by our latest calculations, which are not finished yet" to their statements. Disclaimers. China will not give up coal, so if you believe we are doomed, we are. China will have more solar production than us anyday now if they do not already, and an exponentiational rise, while mr. gore continues to tell us not to do what he does. The herd mentality is only costing poor people NOW. Many are poor AMERICANS, though I expect none of you to care, your mostly hypocrites. Of course coastal living is tough, have you ever been to the coast? notice all those layers of water marks above your heads? what the hell do you think that's all about, and I am not talking marks on the sides of wooden saloons, I mean on dirt banks, caves, ledges, cliffs etc, and if you have ever had to the wonderful opportunit to snorkel or scuba, you will really be in for a treat!!....the ocean was actually higher when columbus discovered america and when the chinese first sailed here centuries before, it was low enough that the structures they built are way out at sea now, think people, we are already supposed to be several feet underwater because of the chicken littles. And how many of you are seeing catastrophic rises in co2 concentration in your spectrograph or chromatograph? I'm not. The new instruments go down to parts per billion where the old ones went to parts per million....we are finding arsenic in places where we did not see it before, but not because it was not there, because we could not detect it. I bet if you were to slice the smallest sliver off a dollar bill the bank would not notice...the treasury would, it'd still be dollar though...(don't try that). We got other problems and climate change is a diversion, and you ARE hurting your fellow Americans by not addressing all those other problems, and you can thank al gore for that.
The owner of the Co. where I work had a house on the jersey Shore. His family net worth is in 9 figures. US taxpayers are rebuilding his home. I do not believe i should pay for the new house. Or anyone elses. I guess this makes me a crackpot?