John Englander

High Tide On Main Street is by John Englander the former CEO of the Cousteau Society. It includes a forward by Jacques son Jean-Michel. It reads fairly easily but has plenty of footnotes and is not lightweight. It makes the convincing case for sea level rise as a sure thing baked into recent and future CO2 emissions.

CO2 has a lag time to heat up the atmosphere, which in turn has a lag time to heat the ocean and melt ice -- a double lag. Sea level rise is thus the most lagging impact of global warming. However, CO2 emissions are currently happening 20,000 times faster then the fastest similar event in history 50 million years ago, when seas rose nearly 9 feet with a 100ppm CO increase over about 10,000 years. We have already exceeded 100ppm in about 30 years, so sea level rise has only just begun (remember the lag). One might feel comfortable with a 10,000 year lag, but the rate of CO2 emissions is 20,000 times higher and thus the rate of melting will also be much faster -- there is no historical parallel.

If all land ice melted, the oceans would rise over 200 feet. That won't happen anytime soon, if ever, but all that is needed is a foot or two to disrupt culture. This will almost surely happen sooner than later, due to the rapid pace of CO2 release and temperature increases. Miami's streets are already flooding on sunny days with normal tides. Lawns far inland are seeing water peculate upward with the tides, which didn't use to happen. Pacific islands are flooding. Chesapeake Bay islands are disappearing. The list goes on -- and this from a few inches.

What is the public to do? Englander focuses on the USA investor and home owner though offers little more than common sense advice. Coastal properties will not hold their value for multiple generations - prices will drop as awareness sets in long before actual flooding occurs. Entire communities will be hurt by loss of businesses and industry. There are few sure things in life, but dramatic sea rise is one of them. If there was a way to directly invest in sea level rise it might be the world's best investment, a sure thing with steady upward growth. Unfortunately it will cost trillions in lost infrastructure, entire municipalities and even whole counties.… (plus d'informations)