Topics will include implications of chronic erosion, gradual sea level rise, increased shoreline development and comprehensive beachfront management planning. A public comment period began 5:30 p.m. yesterday.

Organized by DHEC in 2007, the Shoreline Change Advisory Committee is an advisory committee of a broad cross-section of stakeholders including scientists, coastal managers, municipal officials, developers, conservationists and legal professionals. The committee’s purpose is to organize existing shoreline research, identify research priority needs and consider policy-related issues concerning management of South Carolina’s estuarine and beachfront shorelines. A report of the committee’s findings is planned for late 2009.

The Charleston Community Leaders’ Forum on Shoreline Change is organized by DHEC’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management in partnership with S. C. Sea Grant Consortium, the College of Charleston and the City of Folly Beach.

For more information on the Shoreline Change Advisory Committee visit http://www.scdhec.gov/environment/ocrm/science/shoreline_comm.htm

From the Shem Creek blog.

Charleston Community Leaders’ Forum on Shoreline Change

“…the study will complement an existing study currently being performed by FEMA which focuses on the effect of climate change on the National Flood Insurance Program.” – Phil May

According to FEMA Regional Administrator Phil May, the information and results from this study may help formulate strategies to deal with potential effects of sea level rise on the nation’s coast.

“North Carolina has been very proactive in implementing and improving upon coastal zone management activities and policies,” May said.

“Although the study is focused on just the state of North Carolina, the results of the study should be applicable to other coastal states as well.”

From the Shem Creek blog.

FEMA Grants $5 Million For Sea Level Rise Study

Some highlights:

• * Rising water levels are already an important factor in submerging low-lying lands, eroding beaches, converting wetlands to open water, and exacerbating coastal flooding. All of these effects will be increased if the rate of sea-level rise accelerates in the future.
• * Most coastal wetlands in the mid-Atlantic would be lost if sea level rises one meter in the next century. Even a 50-cm rise would threaten most wetlands along the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay.
• * Possible responses to sea level rise include seawalls, bulkheads, and other shoreline armoring; elevating buildings and land surfaces (including beaches and wetlands); and allowing shorelines to change and moving structures out of harm’s way. Those three approaches have very different environmental and social impacts.
• * Preparing now can reduce the eventual environmental and economic impacts of sea level rise.
• * Some governmental and non-governmental organizations are already starting to prepare for sea level rise.

You can read the full report at Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-level Rise.

From the Shem Creek blog.

Sea Level Rise and it’s Mid-Atlantic Region Implications

From the Shem Creek blog.

Rising Seas: Challenges and Opportunities for South Carolina

“In the future, it is very likely that rising temperatures will lead to more frequent heat waves, and virtually certain that the seas will rise, which could leave low-lying nations awash in seawater.”
NASA’s global warming library

* UPDATES:

• Depletion of Prey Fish may be Starving the Oceans
• Bleak future for acid oceans – login req’d

“Experts predict that over the next century, steady increases in carbon dioxide emissions and the continued rise in the acidity of the oceans will cause most of the world’s fisheries to experience a total bottom-up collapse – a state that could last for millions of years.” – A Sea Change

From the Shem Creek blog.

Imagine a world without fish