Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Could New Fundy Construction Projects Be Flooded ... Twice a Day?

With the UN report predicting sea level rises in the Bay of Fundy perhaps as high as 3 feet, one wonders what the impacts will be on new construction like the Biological Station at St. Andrews and the new Civic Centre at St. Stephen?

This photo shows high tide at the site of the new Civic Centre in St. Stephen. Hmmm?

News Item

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein, Ap Science Writer -
Sun Mar 15, 2:04 pm ET Scientists find bigger than expected polar ice melt WASHINGTON - The northeastern U.S. coast is likely to see the world's biggest sea level rise from man-made global warming, a new study predicts. However much the oceans rise by the end of the century, add an extra 8 inches or so for New York, Boston and other spots along the coast from the mid-Atlantic to New England. That's because of predicted changes in ocean currents, according to a study based on computer models published online Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience. An extra 8 inches - on top of a possible 2 or 3 feet of sea rise globally by 2100 - is a big deal, especially when nor'easters and hurricanes hit, experts said. "It's not just waterfront homes and wetlands that are at stake here," said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, who wasn't part of the study. "Those kind of rises in sea level when placed on top of the storm surges we see today, put in jeopardy lots of infrastructure, including the New York subway system." For years, scientists have talked about rising sea levels due to global warming - both from warm water expanding and the melt of ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica. Predictions for the average worldwide sea rise keep changing along with the rate of ice melt. Recently, more scientists are saying the situation has worsened so that a 3-foot rise in sea level by 2100 is becoming a common theme. More at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090315/ap_on_re_us/sci_northeast_sea_rise

Thanks to Vivian N.

UN: Rising sea levels threaten Bay of Fundy coast


TRURO — Canada's environment minister will be looking into potential problems for major flooding along the Bay of Fundy coastline.

Nova Scotia MP Bill Casey says he has raised concerns with Jim Prentice given that the United Nations Panel on Global Warming identified the Bay of Fundy as one of the most vulnerable in North America.

The report said the area could be severely damaged due to rising sea levels resulting from global warming.

Casey says Prentice is trying to identify resources to assess the vulnerability of the Bay of Fundy shoreline.

He told the minister about the damage caused by severe storms in the Advocate area last December and in Truro and Bible Hill during the past few years.

More info: http://www.mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/science/review/1996/Shaw/Shaw_e.html and: http://www.bofep.org/climate.htm

Photo Credit: Joyce Morrell

Monday, March 2, 2009

Molly Kool - Fundy Legend Dies at 93

More at: http://www.robmooremp.com/070107_02.htm

Molly Kool was the first female sea captain in North America
Born in N.B., Kool died in Bangor at 93

MONCTON, N.B. — Molly Kool, the first woman in North America to become a registered sea captain, died Wednesday. She was 93.

Kool was born in 1916 in Alma, N.B., and spent the first 30 years of her life there. She had been living in Bangor, Maine, for years when she died.

"She was a real pioneer in the status of women and she tackled something absolutely unheard of," said Ken Kelly, president of the Fundy Beautification and Historical Society.

Kelly was a friend of Kool and would visit her in Bangor once a year. She would also regularly come stay with him and his wife in Alma.

Kool tried to enrol in navigation school in Saint John, N.B., but was initially turned away because no woman in North America had ever obtained her mate’s papers.

She persisted and was eventually admitted.

She passed her mate’s papers in 1937 at the age of 21 and passed her master’s exam a couple of years later, receiving her master’s certificate and the title of captain.

"She was a New Brunswick girl and she really overcame a lot. It’s a hell of a story," said Kelly. "She had to earn every bit of what she had and there was a lot of resistance in those days, but she stood her ground and fared well."

Rita Hopper, also a friend of Kool, said some men in the shipping industry didn’t agree with a woman being captain of a ship, while others were fine with it.

She said Kool had the personality to handle any troublemakers.

"She was tough," recalled Hopper. "Nothing would bother her and you could dare her to do anything and she would.

"She wouldn’t take nothing from nobody and she would let you have it. She didn’t care."