Poor old Norlfolk is getting its feet wet and the NYT uses it today as its poster child in its global warming meme (those popular polar bears were unavailable for a photo-op, either because they were previously booked or they’ve drowned).
As sea levels rise, tidal flooding is increasingly disrupting life here and all along the East Coast, a development many climate scientists link to global warming.
But Norfolk is worse off. Situated just west of the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, it is bordered on three sides by water, including several rivers, like the Lafayette, that are actually long tidal streams that feed into the bay and eventually the ocean.
Like many other cities, Norfolk was built on filled-in marsh. Now that fill is settling and compacting. In addition, the city is in an area where significant natural sinking of land is occurring. The result is that Norfolk has experienced the highest relative increase in sea level on the East Coast — 14.5 inches since 1930, according to readings by the Sewells Point naval station here. [emphasis added]
Do you get the impression that the reporter started with one story and her editors changed it?
