Regional and Urban Design Committee

""That is what the whole 21st century world is going to be about". Bill Clinton about Climate Change on 7/18/13 

Last week I had the pleasure of sharing the microphone of the Maryland radio talk show Middaywith the president of of the Center for Environmental Science of the University of Maryland, Donald Boesch and with the program manager for Climate Change Policy at the state Department of Natural Resources, Zoe Johnson.

Boesch had just published a study, commissioned by the State of Maryland, that had come up with the startling finding that Maryland's sea-levels could rise by 2' not sometime late at the end of this still young century but as early as 2050. (SUN). Although this is faster than previous estimates, as Andrew Revkin, New York Times environmental blogger ("relevant developments from suburbia to Siberia"), who called in from New York, reminded us, the discussion about how fast the levels rise is futile. Revkin compared it to discussing when will the run-away school bus hit us when you are clearly in its path. What matters is that the sea levels rise. Whatever we do now will not change this fact for decades to come.  Too long is the lag in atmospheric changes. Even if the world would cut all greenhouse gas emissions off today, sea-levels would continue to rise for decades.