Will predicted sea rise inundation and flooding affect property values in Coffs Harbour NSW?

Coffs Harbour 7m rise. Click to enlarge.

As many homes in Coffs Harbour  are flooded because of an intense rain depression we need also to examine the affect of sea rise. 

 

We also must stop building in flood affected areas. Councils must stop approving development in flood affected areas. It is ridiculous to see new buildings flooded to their roofs. Insurance companies may pay for a while but not without future higher payment rates. In the end every taxpayer pays.

 

• We are looking more and more unlikely to prevent severe global heating.

• Scientists are predicting the melting of the ice covering Greenland with a subsequent sea level rise of 7m.

• This rise does not factor in sea rise from the melting of Antarctica and other ice.

• Already many properties are likely to flood when a high tide is combined with high local rainfall. What were a hundred year rainfall events are now ten year events.

• The frequency of high rainfall events will increase with global heating and more and more severe hurricanes are predicted because of warmer seas.

• Low coastal areas will be subjected to severe storm surges.

• Would you buy a property likely to be inundated in twenty years, fifty years, a hundred years? Many wouldn't. Even the perception of possible inundation will greatly affect property values.

• When certain properties are in less demand their value falls.

• Would you buy a property with a value likely to fall?

•  The view of Coffs Harbour above shows areas likely to be inundated by a 7m sea level rise.

• Property above a 10m rise will become highly sought after and will greatly rise in value.

Learn more about how sea rise inundation will affect Australian property.

Click here to go to Coastal Risk Australia site

'Retreat' Is Not An Option As A California Beach Town Plans For Rising Seas: NPR 


#inundation  #sea rise  #searise  #climatecrisis  #climatechange  #ice  #melting ice 

Excerpt:Corn ethanol no better—and probably worse—than burning gasoline, study says:ARS Technica

"Efforts to reduce carbon pollution using ethanol appear to have backfired.

For over a decade, the US has blended ethanol with gasoline in an attempt to reduce the overall carbon pollution produced by fossil fuel-powered cars and trucks. But a new study says that the practice may not be achieving its goals. In fact, burning ethanol made from corn—the major source in the US—may be worse for the climate than just burning gasoline alone.

Corn drove demand for land and fertilizer far higher than previous assessments had estimated. Together, the additional land and fertilizer drove up ethanol’s carbon footprint to the point where the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions—from seed to tank—were higher than that of gasoline. Some researchers predicted this might happen, but the new paper provides a comprehensive and retrospective look at the real-world results of the policy.

Proponents have long argued that corn-based ethanol bolsters farm incomes while providing a domestic source of renewable liquid fuel, while critics have said that its status as a carbon-reducing gasoline additive relies on questionable accounting. Based on the new study, both sides may be right."

 
Go to the original ARS - Technica article.

 

Are Your Sneakers Bad for The Climate? The Impact of Footwear on Climate Change

Most people don't give footwear a second thought when it comes to its environmental impact. However, in a world where every contribution to climate sustainability counts, sneakers are an item worth examining. While simply wearing athletic shoes doesn't affect the environment, sneaker production and disposal have negative environmental effects that we should work to avoid.

This article discusses how to walk the sustainability talk (literally!) by examining the environmental impacts of your sneakers and other shoes.

 

How Are Sneakers Made?

Sneaker production is similar to the construction of a building. First the foundation is built; in the case of sneakers, the “foundation,” the sole of the shoe, is created from natural rubber. Next, the upper part of the sneaker is attached to the sole through a vulcanizing (rubber hardening) process. Finally, the remaining parts of the shoe, including the tongue, eyestays, and logo are added.

 

Producing a sneaker requires materials such as rubber, leather, textiles, foam, and other synthetics. The environmental impact of sneakers comes both from procuring these materials as well as the sneaker assembly and manufacturing process itself. 

 

How Sneaker Manufacturing Affects the Climate

The fashion industry is responsible for 8.1% of global carbon emissions, and sneakers account for a significant portion of that. In fact, sneakers are responsible for 1.4% of global carbon emissions, which comprises about one-fifth of the apparel industry’s emissions as a whole.

 

Drilling down further, one can see that each pair of sneakers results in 30 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions. When looking at the source of these emissions, the breakdown corresponds to two-thirds coming from the manufacturing process, with the remaining third resulting from raw material extraction.

 

Many sneakers are made from plastic materials, which are derived from petroleum, a fossil fuel. While these materials help increase the durability of your athletic shoes, extracting, manufacturing and recycling these materials is difficult and contributes to climate change and other forms of pollution.

 

When examining the detrimental effects of sneaker production on the climate, other environmental and public health concerns come to light. In addition to contributing to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, sneaker production involves toxic chemicals. While benzene, xylene, and toluene don't drive the global temperature up, they are dangerous carcinogens that adversely affect people's nervous and respiratory systems.

Impact of Sneaker Disposal on the Climate

Because of the large amounts of plastics, glue, and other materials used to produce sneakers, they are difficult to recycle. Instead, sneakers are either incinerated or thrown into landfills. There is much debate over which option is the lesser of two evils.

 

Incineration produces air pollution and fossil fuels. However, some argue that if incineration occurs for energy production, fewer fossil fuels are emitted and less pollution occurs. Waste-to-energy plants have advanced filters that don't allow harmful chemicals to escape, and they emit much less methane, a harmful greenhouse gas, than landfills do.

 

On the other hand, when sneakers end up in landfills, the millions of pairs thrown out each year add to the endless amount of waste. With methane and carbon dioxide comprising over 90% of landfill gas, it's clear that sneakers continue to contribute to climate change long after their production.

 

What Can Sneaker Manufacturers and Retailers Do?

Manufacturers and retailers should only put sneakers on the market that meet the highest standards of compliance. Conducting footwear testing is one way of ensuring that products meet the strictest of environmental guidelines. Taking the initiative to test sneakers helps manufacturers and retailers provide a product that's climate-friendly while projecting a positive brand image.

 

Shoe manufacturers must also increase the use of natural, recyclable materials. For example, some companies are using natural cork materials to create a midsole, rather than using fossil-fuel derived foams. Others are creating foams that use natural, abundant materials like algae to reduce the use of petrochemicals in shoe production.

 

What Can Consumers Do?

Sneakers are an essential part of most people's lives. Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast or just seeking a pair of comfortable shoes for your everyday life, resisting the urge to become a sneaker collector is the first step towards a sustainable shoe closet. By reducing the amount of shoes you buy, you’re reducing the amount of material that must be used to produce shoes, and helping keep shoes out of landfill.

 

Consumers can also hold manufacturers accountable by only purchasing from brands that follow best practices concerning carbon emissions and other climate-related issues.

 

Lastly, there are some places you can recycle your sneakers. The Australian Sporting Goods Association’s initiative Tread Lightly offers recycling services for shoes made of a variety of materials. Simply use their search tool to find a collection location near you.

 

Lena Milton
Environmental Science Writer, Researcher

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Excerpt: How the PR Industry Has Helped Big Oil Transform the Way We Think About the Environment: DeSmog

"Powered by fossil fuel funding, PR agents have used astroturfing, “manufactured consent,” and other techniques to furtively shape public perceptions in favor of their polluting clients."

 

"Since 2008, the American Petroleum Institute (API), which is the U.S.’s largest oil and gas trade group, has paid the world’s largest PR firm, Edelman, $439.7 million. API isn’t the only group in the oil and gas sector to have paid a PR firm for its services. And Edelman isn’t the only PR firm to have received money from the oil and gas sector. 

For decades, fossil fuel companies have been using PR firms to polish, reinvent, and fabricate their image; protect their reputation; and greenwash their activities, in ways that we are still trying to fully understand."

 

Go to original DeSmog article

Excerpt: 10 cities most affected by rising sea levels, Two Indian cities in the list

 "Ground Report | New Delhi: 10 cities most affected by rising sea levels; Climate change has numerous consequences on the daily lives of many people, but few are as palpable as rising sea levels. Many coastal communities around the world already live with the permanent threat of floods, which, driven by the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps, drown entire neighborhoods, putting people’s lives at risk and causing economic havoc. And what is worse, if the world does not meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement and limits the increase in the global average temperature to 1.5 ° C by 2050, many of the cities of the planet will see this extraordinary threat multiplied.

In just three decades, more than 570 coastal cities will face a projected rise in sea level of at least 0.5 meters, putting more than 800 million people at risk, according to data collected by the C40, which brings together a network of cities in the world committed to ecological transition. Especially since, as that water level rises, the storms will become increasingly virulent. In fact, the increase in extreme weather events such as hurricanes or cyclones is a reality that breaks records every year and has a significant social and economic impact.

According to the UCCRN, a research network that brings together climate scientists from around the world, the economic costs to cities from rising sea levels and flooding could reach a trillion dollars each year by mid-century, the equivalent to the annual Spanish GDP. An estimate that they also estimate conservative, since, for example, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 alone damaged 90,000 buildings in New York, causing 19,000 million dollars in repairs."

Go to original GR article

Excerpt: What the Exxon Tapes Reveal About the American Petroleum Institute’s Lobbying Tactics on Oil Trains

 

Senior ExxonMobil lobbyists were recently exposed by undercover reporting from UnEarthed, an investigative journalism project of Greenpeace, which captured footage of the employees explaining how the oil giant influences policy makers using trade associations like the American Petroleum Institute (API).

The undercover footage revealed Exxon lobbyists boasting about wins for the company under the Trump administration and admitting to continued efforts to sow doubt about climate change and undermine action to tackle the crisis. 

 

— By Justin Mikulka (6 min. read) —

 

 

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Lack of a carbon price exposes our industries: Letter to The Age

"Now that the US and the European Union are contemplating carbon adjustment duties on goods involving high carbon emissions in their production when no carbon price is imposed by the source nation, the lack of an Australian carbon price exposes energy-intensive industries, including those which could, but are not yet, taking best advantage of clean energy.

Faced with a changing geopolitical climate, the Morrison government’s response is to direct yet more public funds to a higher-polluting regime than we can afford at this time, including a gas power station that will operate for only a short period of the year at inflated cost (“Gas projects to receive a $40m boost in budget”, The Age, 7/5).

This is a reckless, unsustainable form of intervention demonstrating an alarming propensity for ideological expediency and favouritism.

The correct path is, of course, a carbon price. Instead, we see “clean energy” discourse deconstructed and appropriated by those who spend tax revenue on pet projects in the name of “technology not taxes”.

Jim Allen, Panorama, SA" 

The Age: Letters, 10-5-21