Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Skip Stiles
Executive Director, Wetlands Watch
www.wetlandswatch.org
Virginia Climate Change Commission:
Climate Change Impacts
www.wetlandswatch.org
Sea Level Rise – Virginia’s Biggest
Challenge
Recent Historical Sea Level Rise
Rise +
Hot
Fall -
Cold
- 360 Feet
www.wetlandswatch.org
John Earle /Virginian-Pilot
Recent Historical Sea Level Rise
Last “Big Melt” of glaciers = oceans 4-6 m
above present sea level with +3 o C
temperatures
Previous Coastline?
~150,000 Years Ago
(+5 m)
Impact Crater
~ 35 million
years ago
Recent Historical Sea Level Rise
RECENT MID-ATLANTIC SEA LEVEL RISE
Norfolk/Virginia Beach
One foot
Land Rising
Outside of New
Orleans, Hampton
Roads is largest
population area at
highest risk from Sea
Level Rise in the US
Wetlands Watch - 2007
www.wetlandswatch.org Monthly Mean Sea Level 1927 – 1999 (units in tenth of meter/yr)
What Makes up our Relative Sea Level Rise?
Limit of Development
MHHW
MHW
MSL
MLW
DATE STORM TYPE ABOVE MHHW
Parad
ise Cr
e ek ca
1850
1933‘06
Oct Hurricane
nor’easter
- storm
in 2106
of record
~ 5 feet
www.wetlandswatch.org
DATE STORM TYPE ABOVE MHHW
St. Patrick’s
ODU
N S Piers
Light Rail
Norfolk
General
Hospital
www.wetlandswatch.org
Kristen Lentz – Norfolk Director of Utilities
Shoreline Tax Base/Housing Values at Risk
LEGEND
Purple
Blue
VALUE
Green
Yellow
Red
Kristen Lentz – Norfolk Director of Utilities
Upper Tide Line
(+1.6ft)
Chesapeake Bay
Preservation Act
Covers the
Zones we need
to worry about
with sea level
rise
ChesShoreline
Tidal Bay Act
Buffer
in 2100
Light-rail crews to rebuild Fort Norfolk intersection
The Virginian Pilot
May 26, 2010
NN
Shipyard
www.wetlandswatch.org
Hampton’s Bayside and location of
proposed development
Rd.
Beach
Chesapeake Bay
www.wetlandswatch.org
Shoreline Recession in Grandview/Hampton
www.wetlandswatch.org
Private Insurance Companies “Blue Lining” Tidewater,VA
www.wetlandswatch.org
House fine. Roads, storm water systems, etc.????
~$1.23 million
www.wetlandswatch.org
Front-Line City in Virginia Tackles Rise in Sea
www.wetlandswatch.org
INFILL LOT IN NORFOLK- PERMITS APPROVED 2009 – in small tidal
event on 2-7-10 – shows bad judgement
ONLY ACCESS TO INFILL LOT IN NORFOLK- during minor tidal event on
2-7-10
ACCESS TO NORFOLK APARTMENTS – APPROVED/BUILT 2009 – during
minor tidal event 2-07-10 – road must be elevated = $$??
Impact of Sea level Rise on Beaches
Impact of Sea Level Rise on Virginia Beach
300 FEET
Impact of Sea Level Rise on Virginia Beach
2100 Shoreline
(max)
Virginia Beach – Summer 2007
Virginia Beach – Summer 2107
Climate Change Impacts Can be Seen Now in
Virginia
ROAD
www.wetlandswatch.org
Sea-level rise on VA’s Eastern Shore
Tangier
Island
NWF Study on
global sea level rise = +27.2 inches Ches Bay
Lower Peninsula
Now
National Wildlife Federation –Sea Level rise and Coastal Habitats in the
Chesapeake Bay Region
Lower Peninsula
+.39
meters
National Wildlife Federation –Sea Level rise and Coastal Habitats in the
Chesapeake Bay Region
Lower Peninsula
+.69
meters
National Wildlife Federation –Sea Level rise and Coastal Habitats in the
Chesapeake Bay Region
Lower Peninsula
+ 1 meter
National Wildlife Federation –Sea Level rise and Coastal Habitats in the
Chesapeake Bay Region
Superfund/Hazardous Waste sites near sea
level in Hampton Roads need re-evaluation
Awareness and Urgency is
Growing
Awareness is Growing
www.wetlandswatch.org
Federal Response Has Started
www.wetlandswatch.org
Planning Tools
www.wetlandswatch.org
HRPDC 3-year coastal
zone study on climate
change
(one of three in state – 2009-
2011)
www.wetlandswatch.org
2010 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy
(CEDS)
“Vision Hampton Roads”
IV. ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS AND
OPPORTUNITIES
Threats
• Flat/Slow Port Growth Forecast
• Decrease in DoD Spending
• Continued Deterioration of Infrastructure, Traffic
• Competition from Other States for Military Forces Based in the Region
• Rising Sea Levels and other Potential Impacts of Climate Change
• Lack of Ultra Broadband Infrastructure (High-Speed Internet
Telecommunications)
• Lack of Regional Water Strategy www.wetlandswatch.org
Federally-Mandated Planning Opportunities
US DOT FEMA
www.wetlandswatch.org
ClimateChange
Climate change poses a serious and growing threat to Virginia’s roads, railways,
ports, utility systems, and other critical infrastructure. Higher temperatures,
rising sea levels, increased potential of flooding, more buckled pavements due to
heat, and lower employee productivity due to increased illness are some of the
potential implications of climate change. Elevated atmospheric temperatures
will lead to rising sea levels that will cause storm surges, coastal flooding, and
erosion more severe than occurs today. Temperature rise and the threat of more
frequent and intense heat waves can also seriously impair critical infrastructure
such as roads and bridges as they will be more prone to failure due to extreme
heat expansion and contraction. (p18)
www.wetlandswatch.org
Hazard Mitigation Plans
are Starting to Deal with
Sea Level Rise
Floodplain Management Plans
are Starting to Include Climate
Change and Sea Level Rise
Virginian Pilot August 26th, 2010
www.wetlandswatch.org
Comprehensive Land Use Planning
www.wetlandswatch.org
Comp Plans Have Started to
Look at Climate Change
www.wetlandswatch.org
Mapping – Modeling - Impact Assessments
www.wetlandswatch.org
High Resolution Digital
Maps are on the way…
15 cm vertical (9”
accuracy)
www.wetlandswatch.org
Total Economic Impact of
Selected Areas within the Anthropogenic Ecological
$157,470,131.60 – $187,005,132.10 –
$211,916,046.90 $249,451,074.50
Breakwater Elevation
Migr
at ion
Sea Level Rise
+ =
www.wetlandswatch.org
Summary…..
Localities must plan for sea level rise using land use, emergency
management, economic, and natural resources planning tools –
some Virginia localities have started
www.wetlandswatch.org
Climate Change Work Pays off in the Present
STORM SUR
GE
PROTECTIO
N
Source of Sea Level Rise is of Little Importance to
Hampton Roads
www.wetlandswatch.org
www.wetlandswatch.org
LET’S TALK !