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California bulks up defenses against tide of global warming

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 24, 2008 at 6:30 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

California is building a second line of defense against global warming, one that will prepare the state for a harsher environment while the other continues to cut climate-changing emissions. The two-front approach acknowledges that rising sea levels, bigger floods, greater loss of species and other harsh effects of warming are inevitable, if not already occurring – no matter the state’s success in slashing greenhouse gases.

Unlike the pioneering save-the-planet mandates to tighten automobile exhaust limits and renewable energy standards, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is not loudly trumpeting these defense moves:

• The state Transportation Department is proposing to move a 3-mile stretch of ocean-hugging Highway 1 in Big Sur up to 475 feet inland, to keep ahead of the accelerating tidal rise and bluff erosion.

• State wildlife officials are deliberating plans for “triage,” to decide which species should be saved from global warming and which can’t be saved.

• The state’s San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission is consulting with Dutch engineers and holding an international contest to create designs for flood- resilient buildings.

On Nov. 14, Schwarzenegger issued an executive order to identify the state’s biggest vulnerabilities to rising sea levels and draft an “adaptation strategy.” State, federal and local managers of transportation, public health, wildlife, water and power supplies are being tapped for this task, along with business and public-interest groups.

“It’s saying we need to take action today,” Anthony Brunello, the state deputy secretary for climate change, said of the governor’s directive. “We need to figure out what we should be doing.”

Read the rest of this comprehensive article from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.

November 24, 2008 · Filed Under Climate change & water supply