Houston-area school board votes to remove 13 chapters from state-approved science textbooks, citing controversial topics

[essentialsaltes]

Sea levels are starting to rise faster. Here’s how much South Florida is expecting​

“Presently, sea level is tracking in the intermediate-high to high, the two fastest [future scenarios],” said Randall Parkinson, a coastal geologist with Florida International University. “The other three scenarios, you might not even think about because we’re already rising faster than that.”

Two feet of sea rise by 2060, compared to present-day levels, would be a shock to the system for Miami, where the average elevation is three feet. That’s why local governments — and the state — are spending billions to keep streets dry.

Fast-rising seas could swamp septic systems in parts of the South​

On the worst days, when the backyard would flood and the toilet would gurgle and the smell of sewage hung thick in the air, Monica Arenas would flee to her mother-in-law’s home to use the bathroom or wash laundry.

“It was a nightmare,” Arenas, 41, recalled one evening in the modest house she shares with her husband and teenage daughter several miles north of downtown Miami.

For all the obvious challenges facing South Florida as sea levels surge, one serious threat to public health and the environment remains largely out of sight, but everywhere:

Septic tanks.

Along those coastlines, swelling seas are driving water tables higher and creating worries in places where septic systems abound, but where officials often lack reliable data about their location or how many might already be compromised.

Miami-Dade County is racing to replace as many septic tanks as possible, as quickly as possible. But it is a tedious, expensive and daunting task, one that officials say will ultimately cost billions of dollars they don’t yet have.

Miami-Dade County said it has so far been awarded about $280 million in grants. About 100 homes have been converted

But it remains a herculean task. The county estimates that about 9,000 septic tanks already are vulnerable to compromise or failure under current conditions — a number expected to climb as sea levels rise. Coley said roughly 11,000 septic tanks are on the priority list for removal.

--

Less than a mile away, in the quaint village of El Portal, where peacocks lounge on the steps of the municipal building and Spanish moss hangs from giant oaks, Elizabeth Fata Carpenter spent years worried about water rising underneath the community she loves.

Carpenter and her husband moved to the neighborhood in 2019, and their yard flooded on multiple occasions, undermining the septic system behind their 87-year-old house. Especially after heavy rains, water oozed from the cracks in their garage floor. Their overmatched drain field overflowed into their yard and across the patio. They carried their 70-pound dog to higher ground for walks, and kept boots nearby to wade to their cars.

“We know the floodwater on our property is septic tank water,” Carpenter said one morning last fall outside her home, steps from the Little River. “I know it’s flowing into the river, and not just from my house, but everybody’s homes.”

 

[RileyG]

what about academic freedom? That’s awful

 

[essentialsaltes]

Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels​

The Gunas of Gardi Sugdub are the first of 63 communities along Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts that government officials and scientists expect to be forced to relocate by rising sea levels in the coming decades.

 

[rambot]

They have been combating the sea levels for a while now.

Not in the way that way you'd think. They had been on the offensive; building out dykes and expanding territory. Read about the ijslmeer.

Anyways with sea level rises now they have to shift to a defensive posture. They built huge sea breaks in different locations.


Thank you for aknowledging that agw ocean level rising is threatening humans.

 

[SimplyMe]

Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea levels​

The Gunas of Gardi Sugdub are the first of 63 communities along Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts that government officials and scientists expect to be forced to relocate by rising sea levels in the coming decades.

View attachment 349135

Venice is another interesting case. To combat flooding in the city, they built MOSE, a sea barrier system. It was designed to stop the worst of the flooding from high seas in Venice and was finally completed and first used in 2020. The issue is that, when it was designed, it was thought they'd only need to use it about 5 times per year. The problem is, "Since MOSE began functioning about two years ago, the walls have already been raised 49 times."

There are a couple of different concerns. The first is, to protect the city, there is a fear that MOSE will have to build larger, so that it can protect against even higher seas. Another major fear, that it will need to be used so often that the water in Venice harbor will stagnate, becoming choked with algae. While Venice has always had issues with some flooding when there were high seas, in the nearly two thousand years of existence, they've never had to deal with seas this high, much less this frequently -- and it is only going to get worse.

 

[Zaha Torte]

Not in the way that way you'd think. They had been on the offensive; building out dykes and expanding territory. Read about the ijslmeer.

Anyways with sea level rises now they have to shift to a defensive posture. They built huge sea breaks in different locations.


Thank you for aknowledging that agw ocean level rising is threatening humans.

Weren't the dykes built a long time ago? Before any AGW?

 

[rambot]

Weren't the dykes built a long time ago? Before any AGW?

Yes. And they had to build further controls as sea levels have risen over the last 150yrs or so. Specifically after a truly awful flooding event in the 1950s. Had they not done these "Delta Works" projects, Holland would be a wading pool now.

And as I said, previous dikes and dams were build to capture land and create arable land. Without what Dutch people have built, it would look like this:

 

[Zaha Torte]

Yes. And they had to build further controls as sea levels have risen over the last 150yrs or so. Specifically after a truly awful flooding event in the 1950s. Had they not done these "Delta Works" projects, Holland would be a wading pool now.

And as I said, previous dikes and dams were build to capture land and create arable land. Without what Dutch people have built, it would look like this:
View attachment 349296

Did they first begin to build dikes because of the rising sea levels?

 

[rambot]

Did they first begin to build dikes because of the rising sea levels?

No.

They started building dykes to reclaim "sea land" and turn it into farm land. They've had this as a policy for quite a while. Read about the ijselmeer created by the Afsuijtdijke:

 

[Zaha Torte]

No.

They started building dykes to reclaim "sea land" and turn it into farm land. They've had this as a policy for quite a while. Read about the ijselmeer created by the Afsuijtdijke:
View attachment 349307

Nice. That is really ambitious. I did not know that we could reclaim land that had sunk into the sea. And they started doing this thousands of years ago?

 

[rambot]

Nice. That is really ambitious. I did not know that we could reclaim land that had sunk into the sea. And they started doing this thousands of years ago?

If anyone is interest in hydrology, Holland is the place to go.

Not quite. When folks started moving to holland and living their more permanently (1000s...ish), they first started trying to control the flow of rivers through the country (necessary for farming etc...). Then they moved along to dikes (MANY along rivers as opposed to blocking the ocean). When you look at the map of NL above, you can see a "strip" of land in the ocean. That is a very generous representation; those straight pieces of land are MAAAAAAAAAYBE 2-3km wide.

The Ijslemeer was started in the 1930s I'd say.

In any case, their most recent project at the mouth of the IJ river (IIRC) has the sole purpose of protecting Amsterdam from storm surges that re becoming larger and more aggressive. They have dikes and reservoirs around Amsterdam that aid in that protection but the dams are the first line.
My cousin lives in Amsterdam however, and he and his brother (also in Amsterdam) have a very bleak outlook. That LARGE project at the IJ river was first dreamt up in the 50s and was completed in the 80s. Holland cannot keep leapfrogging every 30-40 years with these ultramega projects.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Based on what you said - no - I wouldn't want you to teach this subject in your classroom.

Should we stop teaching that the earth is round because flat earthers don't like it?

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Zaha Torte]

Should we stop teaching that the earth is round because flat earthers don't like it?

-CryptoLutheran

I have been talking at length with this CF member about this already.

You can teach science and evidence without injecting your political activism.

 

[Hans Blaster]

I have been talking at length with this CF member about this already.

You can teach science and evidence without injecting your political activism.

Human generated climate change is scientifically verified and not political activism.

 

[rambot]

Human generated climate change is scientifically verified and not political activism.

There is no doubt to me that opposing climate change science is mostly political activism.

 

[Zaha Torte]

Human generated climate change is scientifically verified and not political activism.

You are free to believe that.

 

[essentialsaltes]

You are free to believe that.

It's a matter of fact, not opinion.

 

[Hans Blaster]

You are free to believe that.

It ain't about belief. It's about data. That's how science works and you ain't going to change that. As one squeaky-voiced teen commentator said -- facts don't care about your feelings.

 

[driewerf]

There is no doubt to me that opposing climate change science is mostly political activism.

Decisions of combat climate change is in the realm of politics (not activism). But the fact that the warming is happening and that the current warming is due to human activities is science. Conservatives oppose the fact of science because it forces them to make political decisions they don't like. It's a little bit like the fat acceptance mouvement that claims that they can be healthy at any weight (they deny the science) because it would force them to change their life style.

 

[rambot]

Decisions of combat climate change is in the realm of politics (not activism). But the fact that the waring is happening and that the current warming is due to human activities is science. Conservatives oppose the fact of science because it forces them to make political decisions they don't like. It's a little bit like the fact acceptance mouvement that claims that they can be healthy at any weight (they deny the science) because it would force them to change their life style.

Good summary