The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to extreme or record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉
Main Topic: Nasa- Wobbling’ Moon and Climate Change Will Cause Devastating Worldwide Flooding in 2030s
Dear Diary. Here is where astronomy intersects with the climate crisis. Before reading the following article I never thought that slight changes in the moon’s orbital cycle could exacerbate flooding- and relatively soon. We do know that coastal flooding will become worse with time going through the rest of the 21st century and beyond due to sea level rise.
Most of my readers have heard of the full moon affecting Miami, which has increasingly seen more flooding from king tides. Cyclic changes in the moon’s orbit will not favor coastal areas going into the 2030s, thus Miami and other coastal cities will see a double whammy of hurt. Here are more details from NPR:
NASA Predicts 2030s Record Flooding Due To Moon And Climate Change : NPR
A Study Predicts Record Flooding In The 2030s, And It’s Partly Because Of The Moon
July 14, 20215:12 PM ET
A woman drives through floodwater during heavy rainfall in Miami. A new study predicts that high tide flooding in coastal areas could increase in frequency because of climate change and the lunar cycle in the mid-2030s. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images
A new study on high tide flooding predicts that the mid-2030s could be catastrophically wet in U.S. coastal regions — and it could stay that way for an entire decade.
Led by members of the NASA Sea Level Change Team from the University of Hawaii, the study says that high tide flooding could happen more frequently on several U.S. coasts. Flooding at high tide, often called nuisance flooding, already occurs with regularity in many coastal communities as water routinely sloshes into streets, yards and businesses.
Two factors could converge to worsen flooding at high tide, the study says: rising sea levels fueled by climate change — and the moon.
The moon is about to “wobble”
The moon’s orbit is due for its regular “wobble.” That is entirely natural, NASA says, and it has been recorded as far back as 1728. Half of the moon’s 18.6-year cycle creates lower high tides and higher low tides; the other creates higher high tides and even lower low tides.
But NASA says global sea level rise will likely push those high tides higher, and one of the study’s co-authors, NASA Sea Level Change Team leader Ben Hamlington, said that because waters will be higher, this moon cycle could have a much more dramatic effect.
“We’re getting closer and closer to the flooding thresholds or tipping point in these coastal locations,” he said. “The same variability in the past that didn’t cause flooding is now going to cause flooding.”
High tides already exceed known flooding thresholds around the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported continued record-setting high tide, or sunny day, flooding in 2019. But the study shows that high tides will exceed flooding thresholds more often. Floods, the study predicts, could also start occurring in “clusters” that last a month or longer, depending on how the sun, moon and Earth are positioned, according to NASA.
“Low-lying areas near sea level are increasingly at risk and suffering due to the increased flooding, and it will only get worse,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. “The combination of the moon’s gravitational pull, rising sea levels and climate change will continue to exacerbate coastal flooding on our coastlines and across the world.”
Coastal cities have already started to act, but dramatic flooding is coming faster than many once thought
Hamlington said cities and urban planners along the coasts that are already familiar with high tide flooding have been acting to prevent future damage, but the study’s assessment means higher hides and longer floods are coming faster than anticipated.
“A lot of the projections that we as scientists give to coastal planners are up to 2100, but the impacts that we’re going to see because of how these different factors and processes are combining are much nearer term,” he said. “We’re going to see these big dramatic shifts in the next decade or two.”
Josie Fischels is an intern on NPR’s News Desk.
Here are more “ETs” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:
Here is more new July 2024 climatology (More can be found on each prior daily post during August):
Here is More Climate News from Wednesday:
(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)