The business of sea-level rising

The Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina): The sea level rose about a foot in the last century. To some people’s way of thinking, that’s nothing to worry about. But to those who live on the coast, and are paying attention, it is correctly viewed as a warning. Add to the discussion the generally accepted fact that climate change is the major reason for sea-level rise, and the divide between the two points of view gets wider.

And even suggest that climate change is a direct result of human behavior and the conversations tend to turn into arguments. So the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce has its work cut out if it is going to promote a healthy dialogue about sea-level rise. It’s a difficult but worthy goal. Failing to study how sea level rise could affect residents, governments and businesses would be foolhardy.

Wilmington, N.C., received a federal grant to project how sea level rise could affect its water and sewer systems, public monuments and parks, and to determine the best way to prioritize any actions the city might elect to take.

The chamber can offer helpful information along those lines, even to those people who discount the premise that burning fossil fuels speeds up global warming. It can make the case that sustainable energy significantly benefits the economy by creating jobs....

One Broad Street in Charleston, shot by Brian Stansberry, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license

Andrea speeding up southern East Coast

CBS News: After bringing rains, heavy winds and even tornadoes to parts of Florida, Tropical Storm Andrea moved quickly across south Georgia and was speeding through the Carolinas on Friday morning, promising sloppy commutes and waterlogged vacation getaways through the beginning of the weekend.

The first named storm of the Atlantic season lost some intensity after making landfall Thursday in Florida's Big Bend and its winds were down to 45 mph Friday. Ben Nelson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jacksonville, Fla., said Andrea was "moving at a pretty brisk pace" and could lose its tropical characteristics Friday.

During the morning rush hour in Charleston, S.C., there was little evidence the center of the storm was passing to the northwest beyond a few downed tree branches, gusty winds and some puddles in the street. The sun occasionally peeked through.

Derrec Becker with the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said the storm was moving northeast at nearly 30 mph. Across the state, he said, Andrea has brought nothing more than a severe thunderstorm. No injuries were reported and there had been no reports of significant damage.

The storm was expected to move into North Carolina by midday. The National Weather Service issued flood watches across much of both states, was well as tornado and flash flood watches in several counties. Thousands of power outages were also reported....

Hurricane Andrea's track as of June 4, image by Supportstorm

Fires destroy 100+ South Carolina homes

Disaster News Network: Nine apartment buildings containing 119 condominiums were destroyed Saturday in a wildfire that struck with little warning about 10 miles northwest of Myrtle Beach, SC. The fire in Carolina Forest, SC, was one of more than 100 blazes reported over the weekend.

"The whole building was in flames," Lee Krone, a Carolina Forest resident, told WMBF-TV of Myrtle Beach. "The only thing you could see was the rafters." No one was reported injured in the community of year-round and seasonal residents. A temporary shelter was set up for residents in a nearby church. Gov. Nikki Haley visited some of the hardest hit areas Monday.

Most of the fires were along the state's eastern seaboard. According to the South Carolina Forestry Commission two fires were still considered active Monday afternoon as a change in weather helped firefighters extinguish the rest of the blazes. Wildfires in Tennessee and Colorado also damaged homes and other buildings.

State forestry officials said it was the first significant damage reported in the 2013 fire season. "This weekend is actually typical for the fire season," said Scott Hawkins of the State Forestry Commission. "It was bad, but it could have been much worse."…

From 1941, Newberry County, South Carolina. Allegheny fire line trencher in action in a sedge grass and briar field on the Sumter National Forest.

Ex-wildlife chief warns of climate change in South Carolina

Sammy Fretwell in the State (South Carolina): Following revelations the state wildlife department has failed to release a major climate change report, the agency’s former chief said the department should be leading efforts to brace South Carolina for the consequences of global warming.

John Frampton, who left the Department of Natural Resources last year, said that the Earth’s rising temperatures will undoubtedly affect the state’s landscape and wildlife in coming years and that the DNR is well qualified to examine the impacts in South Carolina. “I would liked to have seen the DNR be a leader,” Frampton said this week. “I would have liked to have positioned our staff ... on this. We have experts in the agency” to assess climate change.

His comments came days after The State newspaper reported that a team of DNR scientists had voiced serious concerns about climate change in South Carolina, although their report has been under wraps since Frampton announced he was leaving the agency in late 2011.

DNR officials say that their priorities have changed and that there is less urgency to release the study, which they say needs some revision. Frampton championed the study and recommended its release in late 2011. The Nov. 18, 2011, draft says it was ready for release. In the 102-page report obtained recently by the newspaper, scientists recommend increasing public awareness about climate change, while continuing to study the impacts of global warming in South Carolina.

...The climate report lists potentially substantial threats to South Carolina — ranging from the invasion of exotic eels and piranha to flooding of seaside homes and destruction of ecologically valuable marshes if temperatures continue to rise.

But the study also notes that man-made pollution sources have contributed to global warming. That point is widely accepted by scientists but attacked by politicians concerned about new regulations for industry...

A cypress garden in Monck's Corner, South Carolina, shot by Brian Stansberry, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license