I woke up last week to a mystery. I was all set to mow the yard, but there was water standing in it out back. This is not unusual after heavy rains, but the ground was dry all around the house and it had not rained. The area was dry when I went to bed. I noticed we had some high tides from the astonomical high tides and some easterly winds, but nothing I haven't seen out here before. The water remained for several days, and my daughter and I wondered where the water came from. Then we had a big rain, but the water drained off quickly. What the heck? This week we noticed the grass and many ferns had died. Hmm. Here you see the dead grass and ferns.





This area is only about 35 yards from my house.



I walked on back and saw a swath of dead grass and ferns all the way back to the marsh. The woodpecker in this dead pine tree didn't even notice me.



The ground was still wet. I have never seen the ocean water come in this far, even in hurricanes!






[img]http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/rivershaman/Salt016.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w64/rivershaman/Salt018.jpg[/img]

The salt water killed all those plants not tolerant of salt. I have never seen this here before, and I have been coming out here since 1995. So drive your biggest cars and keep a huge carbon footprint. I may soon be able to build a boat dock in my backyard if this rising sea water continues!

we have signs along the beach promenade indicating where the water level will be in the near future if rising sea level predictions hold true. it is truly scary stuff. all jokes aside, it is a problem, whether we agree if it is man-made or nature taking its course, it is a problem.

i'm sorry to hear about your yard.

The way I see it, the climate is constantly changing. I am sure man has some impact on this, but I think it is minimal. Areas that were the breadbasket of Europe in North Africa are now deserts. I have seen the films of the dust bowl in the 1930s. Poor soil conservation made a natural drought even worse, so I believe in preserving what we can. Sea levels have been higher and lower than they are now. I don't know how much CO2 concentrations have to do with it, though. Good thing I didn't build nearer the marsh like some wanted me to.

Looks like the retirement plan to move to the NW portion of the US of A may not be so far off Vic. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I know you have talked about it in passing for years now but if the ocean is going to take your property you may need to get a good price for it and move inland! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />


Sorry about this current bad fortune all kidding aside Vic. This is VERY serious. Maybe a local politician can give some insight? Perhaps they opened a flood gate from .... well somewhere... and you got soaked. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doh.gif" alt="" />

Bad mojo by Mother Nature at the very least. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbdn.gif" alt="" />


Peace.

Wish I had an answer for ya. I really do..Mother Nature is tough.

I tend to trust scientists, but I'm biased, being a scientist myself. A pretty huge percentage of the scientists I've spoken to personally, and specifically those in fields related to climate, are pretty well convinced that the data shows that humans have had an effect on climate. Now that's not to say they can't be wrong - part of being a scientist is the fact that it's almost more exciting to be proven wrong than it is to be proven right, because you get to learn something new. But at the current point in time, the consensus amongst scientists - not tree hugging hippies or government talking heads, but people who actually collect and analyze data, is that we're screwing up the climate. If those scientists find evidence that they were wrong, they will rush to publish it. That's what's cool about science - you're not a failure if you are wrong, because by being proven wrong you've broadened understanding of the universe.


I don't, however, trust a single word coming out of the mouths of politicians and lobbyists on EITHER side of the issue - those people are so sneaky and underhanded in the way they MISrepresent the science, that it's painful to listen to.

Denver has had more rain this year than they have had in the last 16 or 20 years. Here in Texas its gotten a lot hotter sooner in the season. we could use a little rain.

I expect to be long gone from this earth by the time the water reaches my doorstep, unless we get a big hurricane. Then I will either be washed away or become a refugee.

As far as "sceintists" go, they are not my high priests and they tend to be as dogmatic and self-serving as any other group of self proclaimed enlightened ones. Man-made Global warming is another fad that has recently come under some serious question by many scientists. The new ice age was their holy grail in the 70s. Over population was supposed to have us all starvng by 2000. That's the problem with getting old, I remember and even believed the scientist's grim predictions. Inquiry into the nature of things is certainly admirable and has been most productive, but scientist's predictions have not been terribly reliable.

I have to say over population is a fact. The state of affairs is actually worse than is communicated. It won't be a subtle change, it will seem more overnight. However, I do believe that there is a combined effort that has led to change.

We are overpopulated, the population is not in balance with the resources available. Of course nature will take care of that in some form or another.

Is your State overpopulated? Is your town? Over population based on what? People per square mile? Are people starving in Texas? Are there not enough houses or not enough lumber to build them? Over population is a fact? Based on whose calculation? How many people should there be? Will "enlightened scientists" be the ones to tell us how many to kill and which ones?

Horn Dog - you are hereby charged of hijacking your own thread!!!

Hundreds arrive at local global warming conference: