Climate security

At sea level, climate change in Georgia is more than theoretical

What happened on the Georgia coast last week was predicted last year by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report, which said that “clear evidence” of rising sea levels would increase flooding throughout the coastal United States.

A U.S. 80 that is covered with water three or five times a year now might see that happen 35 to 40 times a year by 2050. Much of it would be “nuisance” flooding, the report said. Which might have applied to Tybee Island last week, except that it didn’t.

“We had to have a helicopter on standby, we had the Coast Guard on alert in case we had a heart attack. The school’s shut down,” Mayor Buelterman said in a phone interview on Thursday. That’s slightly more than a nuisance.