Ahh, you see the polar ice sheets and glaciers are melting, but the water still needs to go somewhere – the ocean. The water then rises transforming geography, manipulates the balance of salt in estuaries and creates higher flooding intensity.

Basically,  rising sea levels affects coastal areas the most drastically.  But, don’t dismay! The EPA, in cooperation with NOAA and a few other exciting agencies recently released a report – Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-Level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region – in which many many recommendations are made to coastal towns to plan and adapt for rising sea levels.

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WOW! I wish I had the answer to that one…And, also, that reminds me of why I tend to answer the scientific based questions first. However, I do like a challenge and a reason to search for up-to-date information. I found these two articles on a subscription site that provide some insight to the question…

OCEANS: Warming oceans driving fish toward poles — study (02/13/2009)

Climate change could push more than 1,000 species of commercial fish and shellfish away from tropical waters and toward polar oceans, according to a new study.

By studying projected ocean changes, researchers predicted that by 2050, marine species will migrate toward cooler waters at an average rate of between 40 kilometers and 45 kilometers (25 miles and 28 miles) per decade.

“These are major impacts that we are going to see within our lifetime and our children’s lifetime,” said William Cheung, a marine biologist at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom and lead author of the study, which is to be published this week in the journal Fish and Fisheries. “Climate change provides us with a kick in the pants. We can’t think about climate change and biodiversity without thinking about the impact it will have on people.”

The migrations could cause massive food shortages and make fish move away from developing equatorial countries where millions depend on them as their primary source of protein (Azadeh Ansari, CNN.com, Feb. 12).

Global warming disrupting whale migrations — scientists

Gray whales along the West Coast are lingering longer in the north before making their swim to tropical waters for the summer, scientists and whale watchers say.

Every year, grays make a 12,000-mile round-trip migration from warm waters off Baja California to Arctic seas between Alaska and Russia, where they gorge themselves on enough crustaceans to keep them nourished for the rest of the year.

But as the Arctic seas warm because of climate change, competition from new species may be forcing whales to spend more time gathering nourishment and delaying their return to the tropics by an average of 10 days per year, according to Wayne Perryman, a researcher at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., where scientists have watched whales for 20 years.

Perryman said the change was significant but did not know how the whales’ new schedule would affect the population over time. “The Arctic environment is so darn dynamic,” he said. “We just don’t know how this will play out” (Michael Torrice, Miami Herald, Feb. 12). – PR

Stories compiled from Greenwire

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The highest tides are found at the Bay of Fundy (Atlantic Ocean) off the coast of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in Canada, as well as Maine in the United States.

The tides are typically 5 to 10 times higher than other coasts!

The “pull” of the water that you feel as you stand in the shallows near the shoreline is just moving water rubbing against your skin. So, why is the water moving out to sea near the beach? Several different forces push – or pull – an excess of water up onto the beach, and then it must run back downhill to where it comes to rest at sea level. The flood tides lift water up over the elevated beach and then it ebbs back down and out to sea (the force is lunar gravitation, lifting the water up). Storms beyond the horizon set the water oscillating up and down, sending long waves called “swells” up onto the beach (the force is high barometric pressure pushing the water down, or low barometric pressure pulling the water up). Shorter, choppy waves are pushed toward the beach by the wind (the force is moving air , with friction on the ocean surface moving the water). These swells and waves turn into “breakers” as they reach
the shallows. The breaking waves push water up onto the sand, and as it runs back downhill to rejoin the great ocean basin, you feels it pulling you out to sea.

This post was answered Dr. J.G. McCully, author of Beyond the Moon: A Conversational, Common Sense Guide to Understanding the Tides.

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You just ingested a plethora of bacteria, exponentially less than that in terms of phytoplankton and then even fewer of zooplankton. Totaling several hundreds of millions of organisms – yup, that were living. Gulp. You will survive though. Just don’t make a habit out of it.

Also, it should be mentioned that there are a substantial amount of ions and elements in saltwater which make it unsuitable to drink on a daily basis. But, accidentally, once in a while after you have been knocked over by a wave – you’ll survive.

Do you have another great question? Check out www.beachchairscientist.com and let us know what you always ponder while digging your toes in the sand!