THE END OF GALVESTON. AND NEW ORLEANS. AND THE GULF COAST AS WE KNOW IT.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Scientists say Antarctic melt now unstoppable, Gulf must prepare for change

Conservative predictions put a rise at 2 feet by the end of this century and Anderson said that could potentially double as the ice sheets melt.

A 4-foot increase would mean much of the Galveston island that we know would disappear. It could also have a dramatic impact on industry that relies heavily on coastal infrastructure.

"People have been looking at that Western edge of the Antarctic for a long time," said Jim Lester at the Houston Advanced Resource Center. "The only practical thing is to retreat from the coast in the long term."

HARC studies air, energy and water with a view toward maintaining a sustainable economy. The group said long-term planning is now the key defense against rising sea levels.

More here.

It's not simply that Galveston, Padre, and no doubt New Orleans, too, will disappear, which will be horrible enough.  It's also that everything associated with these areas will be gone, too.  Indeed, we're going to lose miles and miles of coastline, and all this will equal profound economic disruption, which will, in turn, equal profound disruption of civilization as we understand it.  And that's just from permanent flooding associated with the rising oceans.  Now throw in changing climate patterns, turning fertile agricultural lands into deserts, allowing ever more frequent wildfires, supercharging hurricanes and tornadoes, and we have an AWFUL future in store for our children and grandchildren.  Hell, if we live long enough, this stuff is in OUR future.  Really, we're starting to see these effects already.

We might be able to adapt to some extent, thereby mitigating the severest effects.  Of course, we'll need to have some of that government interference in the economy that gets libertarians and the Tea Partiers all full of piss and vinegar, if we're serious about the survival of our civilization, but given the fact that said piss and vinegar has successfully kept us from doing anything about the global warming causing these effects in the first place, I'm not terribly hopeful.

Who would have ever thought that greed would be the deadly sin that did us in?  Greed coupled with head-in-assed self-righteousness among the global warming deniers.  And to think these people get pissed off when I call them fools.  Whatever.  They're fools.  And they've helped to destroy us.

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