Happy New Year! Sadly it's time for me to love you and leave you this year, hope the blog enlightened you about some of the issues faced by various parts of the world in terms of sea level rise, and that you've learned something new!
I'm going to leave you with this recent article from the BBC about our very own country. This article has warned that the Thames may need a second defense! Things are slowly getting serious it seems,,. The engineer, Dr Bloore, has warned that the current Thames Barrier alone may not be able to withstand flooding events in the future, and that other defenses will be required. He said that at the time it was built, 'global warming' wasn't really an issue. But now, he feels urgent preventative action should be taken. Especially after the recent events in New York, this may not seem like such a bad idea after all....
2012 was also apparently the second wettest year on record in the UK (Click here). Constantly throughout the past year, there have been news stories about flooding in various parts of the country, and, come to think of it, we didn't have much of a summer last year! This has been attributed to the band of wind known as the 'jet stream' being lower than usual, and hence directing rain towards the UK.
So as you can see, through all my blogging, I have been talking about very current issues we are faced with, and given you a range of examples from around the world. With articles like the one mentioned above in the news, alongside 'freak' events such as Sandy, we know things are already not looking too great for us. I have talked about how sea level has been measured historically, and how it is now, as well as the uncertainties involved with this. We know it is a looming issue, that is eventually going to affect our planet at some point. But is it not too late to take immediate preventative measures? I think this is something that policy makers especially should look into.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog. Keep your eyes open and your head above water!
