Rising sea levels - anyone threatened?

I read an interesting piece by Alex May in the SMH this morning on the effects of climate change on the property market.

It's a fact that 80 per cent of Australia's population live within 50km of the coast and is set to rise even more in the future as Australia's sea change phenomenon takes full force.

In correlation with sea change, sea levels are expected to rise to as high as 1.5 metres by 2100, which doesn't sound like a lot but will mean that areas such as Palm Beach will be submerged in water if indeed this does prove true.

Essentially this would mean that some current low-lying seaside areas will be worthless if and when this happens because, after all, who wants to live in a house that is underwater?

How do you think climate change will effect the property market? What changes, if any, will you be making to your investment strategies in response to climate change?

Interested in hearing your responses.

Until then stay cool

Talking about Global Warming is almost as dangerous as talking about religion and politics, but...

My belief is that much of the Global Warming platform is simply scaremongering by so-called 'green' corporations, whose real agenda is to profit from money coming their way from donations and supporters.

The more media hype and fear they can generate the better their cause is, and facts and truth are the casualties of their work. Look at Al Gore; spends hundreds of thousands of dollars and hours in toxic fume belching Private Jets to spread the word on Global Warming, and his house uses more energy in ONE MONTH than the average American house uses in ONE YEAR. Is he turning off the lights, or riding his bike to different cities to spread the word? He has enormous support from Hollywood as well, but do any of them trade in the stretch limos and the Hummers for a Malvern Star? It's all about money and raising their profile to get more of the lovely greenbacks from you and I.

I have lived near and played in/on Port Phillip Bay for most of my 46 years on this planet. The water level has not moved one millimeter in that time. The fish are disappearing however; that's another argument.

Cheers,
Marc.
erardent@hotmail.com

"we get sent lemons; it's up to us to make lemonade"

In fact, global sea levels have risen (on average) by around 20 cm over the last 100 years or so due to thermal expansion. This is a result of the 0.7ish degree rise in global temperatures. As the temperatures continue to rise, which they will, the oceans will expand further and melting ice sheets will contribute to further rise. Ask people in Bangladesh and some islands in the South Pacific whether sea levels have risen.

Al Gore has done more for this planet than most people...

Sea level rise is a gradual thing and will affect certain property over time. I certainly wouldn't be buying property right on the beach as a long term investment.

O.K....he TALKS a lot; but what has he DONE?

In one year he will have DONE this - used 12 times more energy than my household (not including his air travel in those pollution-free jumbos).

He has also made a lot of money from his film. He didn't need the money before the film. Is he using all the profits for the Good Fight?

My evidence of water levels not rising is based on my eyesight. First-hand, non-edited and non-biased evidence. No agenda. I don't believe in Global warming - I just report what I see.

What's your evidence based on? Is it non-biased and without an agenda?

Here's an interesting article from Andrew Bolt in the Herald Sun:

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21232790-25717,00.html

Also read Michael Crichton's "STATE OF FEAR".

Cheers,
Marc.
erardent@hotmail.com

"we get sent lemons; it's up to us to make lemonade"

Regardless of the money he has made or where it goes, Al Gore’s talk has contributed to massive action in addressing an issue that affects not only us, but all species.

I read peer-reviewed scientific literature, written by climate scientists.

Dont worry about who says what or does what worry about whether you are doing something to better your childrens lives so just in case any of you want to do something about climate change here is how www.jackgreen.com.au let me know how good it feels to actually make a difference

Kind Regards Antoni

I don't know about the sea levels but there was no snow in Europe this winter. A lot of ski resorts went broke. Instead of -5degree it was around +15, most of the time. ( where my mum lives)
I think we all need to take global warming very seriously and start doing what we can.

One of the best surf breaks in the world "Nias" is now no longer surfable which brings tears to most surfers with any idea as this used to be the one of the best waves in the world before the tsunamis. If the sea level rose, it could once again be or maybe there are bigger and better breaks now? I guess I'll have to go and find out!

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Originally posted by rejoice:

One of the best surf breaks in the world "Nias" is now no longer surfable which brings tears to most surfers with any idea as this used to be the one of the best waves in the world before the tsunamis. If the sea level rose, it could once again be or maybe there are bigger and better breaks now? I guess I'll have to go and find out!

Get 7 Free Lessons from the Teachers of "The Secret" http://rejoice.theofficialsecretseminar.com

As a surfer myself I wondered what has caused the break to become unsurfable? How has it changed?

I did a bit of a 'surf' on World Temperatures for the last 10,000 years; here's an article I found:-

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/temperature/

Cheers,
Marc.
erardent@hotmail.com

"we get sent lemons; it's up to us to make lemonade"

Interesting reading. The reef at Nias is now above the water due to the Tsunamis.

Get 7 Free Lessons from the Teachers of "The Secret" http://rejoice.theofficialsecretseminar.com

Originally posted by rejoice:

Interesting reading. The reef at Nias is now above the water due to the Tsunamis.

Get 7 Free Lessons from the Teachers of "The Secret" http://rejoice.theofficialsecretseminar.com

Hang on - the reef is now "ABOVE" the water due to the Tsunamis? Was the reef above the water before them, or only since? Where did the water go?

I am now confused.

I thought the sea levels were supposedly RISING (due to Global warming)?

Next we'll be hearing that the Tsunamis are caused by Global warming as well.

Cheers,
Marc.
erardent@hotmail.com

"we get sent lemons; it's up to us to make lemonade"

It always used to be below but due to the Tsunamis...

The reef on the west coast of Nias has risen by up to 2m in places.

http://www.surfaidinternational.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=ekLPK4MOIsG&b=489239&ct=627429

Get 7 Free Lessons from the Teachers of "The Secret" http://rejoice.theofficialsecretseminar.com

There was a report on Foreign Correspondent last week which seems relevant to this thread:

http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2007/s1865416.htm

I also watched a thought provoking doco called "Who killed the electric car?" Not sure how old it is, but along the same lines as "An inconvenient truth". While it is true that documentaries are always biased, I couldn't help questioning the credibility of the automobile and oil industries who clearly have a vested interest in the continued use of fossile fuels. In my opinion, this potential global issue warrants further investigation. While it could just turn out to be scare mongering (although I doubt it), what if it is a reality and nothing was done about it?

I heard recently that some insurance companies (in the USA?) are refusing to insure some properties that could be threatened by rising sea levels. I can't base this statement on fact, perhaps someone else knows more about this and could shed some light?

I use to be a big skeptic on global warming but have changed my tune as there is just too much evidence that we are getting hotter and in my belief now i think people are underestimating how quickly we are melting. 10 of the last 14 years have been hottest on record and as a farmer who relies on temps, rainfall etc we notice this in daily events. For example we only get around 10 to 20 frosts per year now where as 20 years ago our records show we got 40 to 60 frosts per year.

The reason sea levels have not risen much is because land ice needs to melt for this to happen. So far not much land ice has melted and found its way into the ocean but when the sea ice melts (which it is doing quite rapidly as the polar bears are finding out) and then lets the land ice go into the ocean this is when sea levels will rise. For example fill a cup with water and ice, take note of level. When ice melts the level of water will still be the same however now take more chunks of ice and throw in glass. The level rises and this is what will happen when land ice melts into the ocean.

I personally will be taking into account and making my future decisions on rising sea levels. This will only be one of many considerations though.

Cheers,

Woodinator

Woodinator, don’t forget the effect of thermal expansion. Mean sea levels have risen by ~20cm over the last 100 years or so, due to thermal expansion. This will continue. Melting of ice sheets will add to further rise.

A few extra little tidbits I just learnt from folk at the CSIRO and Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Co-operative Research Centre.

- For every 1cm rise in sea level, water moves ~1m inland (to quote a CSIRO media release “Over the last century, about 70 per cent of the world's sandy shorelines were retreating, between 20-30 per cent were stable, and fewer than 10 per cent were advancing. As sea-levels rise, coastal erosion is expected to continue, resulting in the landward movement of the coastline typically at rates of tens to hundreds of times the rate of sea-level rise.”).

- Extreme storm surges are becoming more severe (combination here of sea level, tide, surge, setup and swish).

I read something that Terry Ryder wrote and he was saying that a one degree temperature rise would mean that severe weather events (storms, cylones etc) which would normally happen once every 300 years would happen every ten years.

With that in mind, another problem affecting property could be rising home insurance premiums

Yeah, that's pretty much in line with what the CSIRO were saying. They said a 1 in 100 year event woud become a 1 in 2 year event, but this was discussing the effect of sea level rise on extreme storm surges. It wil be these extreme surges that will effect properties on the coastline most (and the extremes are becoming more extreme).

The extreme weather events that you are talking about, which have been occuring more often, has caused a massive increase in the amount the insurance industry has been forking out for claims worldwide, and it's for this reason that the insurance industry is more concerned about climate change than most others (for example IAG and Swiss Re are both members of the australian business roundtable on climate change).

we are not looking back far enough. the earth goes through warming and cooling cycles.

we don't know if due to human activity that the heating we are currently experience will ever change, however the likelihood is that the earth will go into a cooling stage. if it is soon enough is the question that needs to be answered.

agree that more needs to be done by industry and political parties however to limit our interference with the planet.

it was only in the 1970's that there was discussion of the earth cooling. this proved to be wrong, but things seem to follow media hype as we all know.

I hope sea levels don't rise for an awful long time, have purchase new PPOR right on the beach and have 2 investment properties in coastal suburb in Perth!  Gulp!!!

I believe that anyone who doesn't believe that global warming is here now is suffering an extreme case of denial.  When I was a kid and a teenager it used to rain every Christmas and Easter holidays in my area.  Floods were the norm.  The tourists used to complain bitterly and Dad used to let us stay home from school after 6 weeks of rain.  In summer we'd swim in the morning when it was sunny and many an afternoon there was a thunderstorm and rain for about and hour or two.  It doesn't happen near as often now - the afternoon showers that is.

The last time people had to be evacuated from an area, that used to be regularly evacauted because of floods, was about 18 years ago.  For the past 10 years the tourists have enjoyed long sunny holidays.  In summer we used to keel over from the humidity.  That hasn't been a problem for again, at least 10 years.  The scientists are unanimous that it is not just a short term variation.  But... history tells us we are slow learners and we don't believe  we'll be 'burnt' until we're actually burnt.  We don't like to change until we are dragged kicking and screaming to change or the stark reality of the consequences has smacked us up the head in a most unpleasant and ongoing way.

L.A,

I enjoy your posts and your sense of humour. Keep up the good work.

 

Dizang, I throw your question regarding ‘who want to live in a house underwater’ to my kids and both were very excited about the prospect! My son mentioned that they could share it with the mermaids!   

David