Massachusetts launches coastal defense against climate change

Boston.com: Massachusetts is kicking off an innovative pilot program to defend the state’s 78 coastal communities against rising sea levels and fiercer storms brought on by global warming. The state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs announced yesterday that seven communities have been selected to will learn how best to adapt to climate change, by doing such things as elevating existing buildings in flood prone areas, developing disaster plans for more frequent storms and prohibiting construction in vulnerable areas.

…The move is part of a growing international effort to accommodate – not just prevent – higher temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, sea level rise and longer growing seasons from the release of heat-trapping gases from power plants, factories and cars….

‘It’s a step forward, I applaud them,” said Paul Kirshen, a Tufts University professor and expert in climate change adaptation. “All the research, including mine, shows it makes a lot more economic, environmental and social sense to adapt rather than wait a few decades until the full impacts of climate change are felt.”

…Adaptation has been discussed for years in low-lying island nations, Europe and elsewhere around the world. But it was infrequently mentioned in the U.S. in part because the Bush administration was reluctant to acknowledge manmade climate change, let alone plan for it, climate experts says. They say the incoming Obama administration is likely to accelerate adaptation efforts….

The invaders arrive at Plymouth, Mass! An 1877 painting by Henry Bacon.