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Retreat from a Rising Sea
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Retreat from a Rising Sea

Hard Choices in an Age of Climate Change

Orrin H. Pilkey, Linda Pilkey-Jarvis and Keith C. Pilkey
Columbia UP, 2016
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The “retreat” in this book’s title isn’t a description, but a prediction. Orrin H. Pilkey, Linda Pilkey-Jarvis and Keith C. Pilkey – co-authors of previous environmental books – argue that rising sea levels will doom coastal development. They say that in many areas beach renourishment and seawall construction will prove expensive and futile. Decades from now, they predict, people will be forced to abandon Miami, New Orleans, Norfolk and other coastal cities. The authors criticize the US government’s flood insurance program for encouraging building in low-lying areas instead of strategizing movement away from the coasts. They also warn of the danger of locating nuclear plants near the shore. Climate change skeptics may not appreciate the Pilkeys’ fatalistic mindset. However, they also present a compelling overview of a potentially devastating problem and of what government is and isn’t doing to mitigate its risks. While always politically neutral, getAbstract recommends their insightful, well-researched report to investors, city planners, policy makers and anyone living near the sea.

Summary

Fighting the Oceans

For two centuries, two trends have been on a collision course. Sea levels are rising, and people are moving closer to the water. Half of the globe’s population lives fewer than 40 miles from the coast, and many megacities are near the water. Spurred by ocean shipping and the tourism and recreation industries, coastal cities like New York, London and Hong Kong exert a strong allure. Authors Orrin H. Pilkey, Linda Pilkey-Jarvis and Keith C. Pilkey saw the dangers of coastal living firsthand. In 1969, Hurricane Camille damaged their family home in Waveland, Mississippi. When Hurricane Katrina hit with its 25-foot (nearly eight meter) storm surge in 2005, the water swept the house away. But people continue to flock to beachside property in Mississippi and elsewhere. After Katrina, vacant lots in Waveland went on the market for $700,000 to $800,000.

Burning fossil fuels affects sea level rise by releasing greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, which trap solar energy that would otherwise reflect back into space. Instead, it warms Earth’s atmosphere, causing ocean water to warm, expand and melt polar ice.

Ignoring rising sea levels and their...

About the Authors

Orrin H. Pilkey is James B. Duke professor emeritus at Duke University. Linda Pilkey-Jarvis is a geologist and Keith Pilkey is an administrative law judge. The three have collaborated on previous environmental books.

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