Living on a small island in the middle of a big ocean sensitizes you to what is happening in the ocean. Or at least it should. Rising sea level is an inevitable consequence of global warming. Simple expansion of water as it warms will contribute a few centimeters. And melting of ice caps will likely add 1 meter by the end of the century.
UH Geology prof, Chip Fletcher, and his colleagues at the Hawaii Coastal Geology have worked on this issue for some time. Their website has has some really excellent background material. There a couple of excellent slide shows on the Talks and Posters link. These slide shows also illustrate the Honolulu "Blue Line" which shows which parts of our community will be inundated during this century.
It is already happening. Parts of Manpunapuna are flooded by sea water backing up through storm drains during very high tides. Also, an item in the Honolulu Advertiser about erosion on Kailua beach is a promise of things to come and should put us all on notice. But are our elected officials taking the warning signs seriously? We have time to plan, but we need to start. The sea level will rise slowly, but inexorably, centimeter by centimeter. The longer we delay action, the more we will loose. What are our elected officials doing about it. What does Mayor Hanuman (thanks, Lee) think?
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