The Coming Flood

Water from the world’s shrinking glaciers was responsible for almost a third of the rise in sea levels between 2003 and 2009, shows new research.

An international team of scientist compared data gleaned from two NASA satellites as well as traditional ground measurements from glaciers around the world.

Their work, published in the journal Science , is the most accurate estimation of how glaciers contribute to sea level rises to date.

“For the first time, we’ve been able to very precisely constrain how much these glaciers as a whole are contributing to sea rise,” says lead author Assistant Professor Alex Gardner, assistant geography professor at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

“These smaller ice bodies are currently losing about as much mass as the ice sheets.”

The most significant ice losses occurred in Arctic Canada, Alaska, coastal Greenland, the southern Andes and the Himalayas, the study found.

The glaciers outside of the Greenland and Antarctic sheets lost an average of roughly 260 billion metric tons of ice annually during the period, leading to a rise in ocean levels of about 0.7 millimeters per year.

By contrast the glaciers in Antarctica, smaller ice masses that are not connected to the ice sheet, made scarcely any contribution to sea-level rise over the study period.

Note that sea level rise is uneven, and effects coastlines with high degrees of variability. Some coast will experience more rise and erosion, some less.

Via ABC.AU h/t Marcacci Comm.

As New York City prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, stocks up on essentials, shuts down its public transport system and evacuates 375,000 residents living in low lying areas, there is one part of the city’s population of 8.5 million people that is still roaming the streets: the homeless.

46,631 of them seek refuge every night in the city’s often criticized shelter system, and those are the ones that manage to get in. Many more stay out in the streets. Some, because there simply aren’t enough beds, others because the system - to address the chronic shortage of space - has become a byzantine labyrinth of rules and procedures for them to deal with, and finally many of the LGBT community who feel their sexual orientation exposes them to significant risks from other shelter inhabitants.

James, 43, from Harlem is one such homeless I encounter sitting outside an upscale grocery store on Sunday night, as Hurricane Sandy approaches the city, in the gentrified section of Harlem called Morningside. He is panhandling from the last few passersby hurring past in the rising winds of the approaching storm. As he sees my camera he wants to talk and so I ask him why he hasn’t sought refuge from the storm yet.

“I can’t go back to the shelter system for another two months,” he explains.

“Why?” I ask and point out that the city has just opened 76 emergency shelters around the five boroughs as part of their hurricane preparedness plan.

“Once you’ve been in the system for 18 months you can’t go back there for at least one year,” James responds. “Only once you’ve been out for a year, can you be classified as longterm homeless, and therefore get access to additional assistance.”

“But what about the emergency shelters? You cannot go to those either?” I ask again.

“No, they don’t want us there. These shelters are for the good folks, the families that get evacuated. There is no room in there for me.”

“Have you tried?” I ask, pointing out that there are 73,000 beds available, and last I heard only about 1,000 had been taken.

“I couldn’t get help during Irene,” James responds. “So, I’m not gonna bother this time. I can’t get into the trains and seek shelter there, because the subways are shut down.”

Havana, Oct 29 (Prensa Latina) - Cuban authorities intensify recovery efforts after the passage of Hurricane Sandy last Thursday, which hit the eastern region and left heavy rains in the center of the country. Other regions of the island send aid to the Cuban Eastern provinces, after the passage of the storm, which affected agriculture, housing, electricity and telephone service in that region. 

Due to the tremendous efforts of the recuperation phase, in Holguin electricity has been reestablished to 61.8 percent of consumers. In this regard, in Granma the electric service has been restored to a 94.9 percent of its inhabitants, while in Guantanamo it has been restored to a 55.65 percent. 

In Santiago de Cuba, the second most populated province with more than one million inhabitants and the most affected by the storm, nine circuits have partial services in the provincial capital city, according to the director general of the Electrical Union, Raul Garcia. 

Given the impact of the climatological phenomenon, Cuban President Raul Castro visited central provinces affected by Sandy’s rains and Santiago de Cuba city. 

In coordination with the Ministry of Transport, 14 tons of malanga for medical diets were sent to Santiago de Cuba from Ciego de Avila, 500 tonnes of bananas will be transported by road for its distribution from Camagüey to Guantánamo. 

In the central provinces affected by the rains and floods, everything is getting back to normal with the return of thousands of evacuees to their homes.