Rising seas threaten Lowcountry

If sea levels rise by 5 feet or more this century, about half the Charleston peninsula, most property near the marsh in Mount Pleasant, and much of Sullivan's Island and Folly Beach would be under water. And that's on a clear day with no rain.

That was part of the message today from a coalition of environmental groups trying to focus attention on the threat of global warming.

An international group of climate scientists predicted last fall that sea levels will rise 23 inches this century as the oceans warm, roughly double the rise during the last century. That prediction from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change did not account for melting polar ice, however, and polar ice has been melting at a record-setting pace.

"The potential is so astounding, if it continues," Duke University Professor Orrin Pilkey said at a mid-day panel discussion in Charleston addressing the sea level rise issue. "I think that 3 to 5 feet is a conservative estimate for coastal management here."

Pilkey and others will be speaking tonight at a public panel discussion, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the main branch of the Charleston Library, 68 Calhoun St.

At the gathering this evening, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy will screen a short video, "Rising Seas: Challenges and Opportunities for the Lowcountry," that features simulations of the flooding that could occur in the area.

The threat has long been known, but the estimates of how much the seas will rise have been increasing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicted more than a decade ago that global warming would contribute to a sea level rise of 19 inches in Charleston this century.

Pilkey said that Charleston and other cities should be discussing the potential use of seawalls to keep the rising water out. Barrier islands would essentially be out of luck, he said.

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy hopes the rising seas issue will bring more public urgency to addressing the man-made emissions blamed for rising global temperatures. The Alliance is a consortium of groups including the Charleston-based Coastal Conservation League.

The Rising Seas video was produced in cooperation with Architecture 2030, a group that advocates a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.