Sea level rise from global warming is thought to be a future danger, but this report from the BBC shows how the rising waters of the Chesapeake Bay are already engulfing islands and communities along Maryland’s coast.
This house once stood back from the bay. Now the water is lapping at its foundations.
As the camera pans across the water from a boat:
This island was once connected to this island … which was connected to this island … which was connected to the mainland.
See the report with your own eyes and hear the British correspondent refer to rising levels of "C.O. twos" in the atmosphere.
Maryland’s bay area is espeically vulnerable to rising sea levels because the ground is slowly subsiding, a lingering effect of the last ice age. Over the past century, the land sunk about 6 inches while the water rose about 6 inches. Combined, that’s a 1-foot rise in sea level for the region.
The rate of subsidence is slowing, but officials with Chesapeake Climate Action Network)
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