در این مقاله موضوع افزایش سطح دریا در حاشیه شهر نیویورک مورد توجه وال استریت ژورنال قرار گرفته است. نویسنده بیان می دارد که بر اساس پژوهش های انجام گرفته مبتنی بر برخی دلایل علمی افزایش سطح آب دریا در حاشیه نیویورک بیشتر از سایر نقاط جهان خواهد بود. این موضوع موجب آن شده است که بحث هایی در زمینه صحت این پیش بینی ها صورت و از سوی دیگر مباحثی نیز در زمینه نحوه آمادگی این شهر برای بروز رخدادهای احتمالی شکل بگیرد.

ادامه مقاله

NEW YORK -- When major ice sheets thaw, they release enough fresh water to disrupt ocean currents world-wide and make the planet wobble with the uneven weight of so much meltwater on the move. Studying these effects more closely, scientists are discovering local variations in rising sea levels -- and some signs pointing to higher seas around metropolitan New York.

Sea level may rise faster near New York than at most other densely populated ports due to local effects of gravity, water density and ocean currents, according to four new forecasts of melting ice sheets. The forecasts are the work of international research teams that included the University of Toronto, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., Florida State University and the University of Bristol in the U.K., among others.

Scientists are laboring to make their predictions more reliable. While they do, New York has become an urban experiment in the ways that seaboard cities can adapt to climate change over the next century. For their part, the city's long-term planners are taking action but are trying to balance the cost of re-engineering the largest city in the U.S. against the uncertainties of climate forecasts. continue...