After reading excerpts of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Arctic report, I had to rethink my opinion on the impact of global warming and climate change. The world’s scientific community has been slowly shortening their predictions of the effects of climate change. When the effects of methane (30 times more damaging than CO2) from thawing tundra was added to our imput of CO2, the time line shortened. When the impact of melting Arctic ice cap leaving less ice to reflect sunlight was added, the time line shortened.

This year there were more climate changing gases and less ice reflection than ever before. Another reason for sadness is the Earth had less major volcanic activity putting more gas and ash into the high troposphere reflecting the sun.

I have lowered my expectations to agree with the scientists who predicted major impacts by 2050 and not 2100. The oceans are rising faster than originally predicted because of thermal expansion, melting ice caps and glaciers.

Today’s very sophisticated computer programs predict the radical weather of November and December when the jet streams dropped to the south from a warmer Arctic.

Our eastern coastal cities (Miami, Norfolk, Charleston, and New York among others) are starting to plan – too late – to make zoning changes, or build up levees and install massive pumps. I think their efforts are too little, too late. Many predictions indicate they will experience constant flooding within thirty years, not fifty or more. Miami, Charleston, and Norfolk flood with king tides now.