Sustainability In Your Ear welcomes back oceanographer and author John Englander, who last visited with us in February 2023. John is the author of two pivotal books on Sea Level Rise, High Tide on Main Street: Rising Sea Level and the Coming Coastal Crisis, which explores the science behind rising seas and its far-reaching impacts on society, and Moving to Higher Ground: Rising Sea Level and the Path Forward, which offers a comprehensive look at how individuals, businesses, and governments can adapt to this unavoidable reality. He recently gave a talk at the U.S. Naval Academy and shares the reaction he heard from admirals and strategists charged with protecting U.S. interests a sea. John delivered a stark warning about the accelerating rate of sea level rise, emphasizing the vulnerabilities of the Antarctic ice sheets—particularly the Thwaites Glacier, which also known as the “Doomsday Glacier.” He warned that the collapse of the Thwaites alone could lead to significant sea level rise within the next few decades, with profound implications for global military operations, coastal infrastructure, and international security.
Sea level rise is the permanent change humans will live with for centuries, probably millennia, because the oceans have absorbed most of the heat trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere. Average sea surface temperatures have climbed by about 0.8 degrees Celsius, or 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit. The Arctic is warming four times faster, about 3 degrees Celsius since 1980, and that has raised sea levels by between 21 and 24 centimeters, or about nine inches, in the same period. John also shared recent warnings about the collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which drives circulation of seawater globally. Until we lower emissions sufficiently to stop glacial melting, sea level will only rise more and ports, infrastructure, and entire economies will deal with the threat of disruption. Learn more about the organization he cofounded, the Rising Seas Institute, at which became a program of Nova Southeastern University on November 1, 2024.
Editor’s Note: This interview aired on November 4, 2024.