Sea level rise not as alarming as reported
On Dec. 30, West Hawaii Today published an article by Tom Callis of the Hawaii Tribune-Herald that was, to say the least, a major cause of concern. It started with the assumption that if the sea level rose 1 meter (3.2 feet) in the next 83 years more than 1,000 Hawaii Island residents would be displaced and almost half a billion dollars in damages.
The first question that I ask was what evidence is there of that level of sea level rise? I went to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website and looked up the information related to sea level rise in Hilo.
Hilo’s tracking goes back to 1927. It shows sea level rise is the equivalent to .99 feet in 100 years or .82 feet in the 83 years between now and 2100. There are graphs which show the sea level rise for the whole period and for the more recent 50 years and they all show the sea level rate has been relatively consistent, there has been no acceleration in the rate of sea level rise over the period observed and that there is a high degree of confidence that NOAA’s information is correct.
Clearly the problem is that the initial assumption is erroneous. That assumption is that it is likely there will be a 3-foot rise in sea level over the next 83 years. In fact, the sea level rise would have to be four times the current rate of increase, every year for the next 83 years.
A reasonable conclusion that any person would make is that the rate of increase will continue for the foreseeable future and while the expected increase of .82 feet over the next 83 years may require adaption, it will not cause anywhere near the loss that the article appeared to claim was likely.
Kenneth Halverson
Kailua-Kona
Please reopen transfer stations
I have just noticed that the county’s recycling centers at the transfer stations are closed. This is a bad idea replacing a good idea. Many low-income people depend on these recycling centers for clothing, tools, and kitchen equipment, etc.
But what really gets to me is what will happen next: All the good and useful items that people should be able to reuse and repurpose will go into the landfill. That is just plain wrong. The previous administrations saw the wisdom of taking usable items out of the solid waste stream. Suddenly, that wisdom has been abandoned.
The employees who run these recycle centers are not getting rich, that’s for sure. So, why close them down?
Well, I suppose the money for recent raises for the above-$100,000 crowd has to come from some place.
Anyway, I have begged Councilman Tim Richards to reopen ours in Waimea. I just hope that the rest of the districts see the light and reopen theirs, too. This administrative decision really is petty and hurts the little guy, again.
Tom Beach
Waimea