countdowntothemeltdown.com

I began my blog in the hope of convincing people of the urgent need to spend as much time and effort on adapting to global warming as we are spending on mitigating (or fighting) global warming. I may try to kid around a little, calling myself Count Doom and creating my 4 horsemen of Global Warming; but that was an attempt to lighten up my blog and alleviate the serious subject matter.

I firmly believe - to the depth of my soul - that sea level rise is a huge threat to our coastal areas, to the people who live and work there, and to our nation’s economy. I knew I was taking on a huge burden, that it would be a long and strenuous effort, and I assure you “I have just begun to fight”. Yet, sometimes an initial plan fails and a strategic withdrawal is required in order to be able to continue to fight another day.

I believe I erred when I started to devote most of my energies into making this a global warming news, aggregator style, blog. I think I provided a good example of what a global warming news site should be but I must admit that it is too much work for a part time blog. Even if I could devote my full time energies to this endeavor I still believe it is more than any one person can tackle, and given the excellence of the other sites available I feel I can leave the news in their capable and trustworthy hands. I have therefore decided to reluctantly discontinue this aspect of my blog and to get back to my real mission.

It is time to recast this blog in a new and hopefully brighter light. I will now focus on the multidimensional aspects of global warming and the one issue that I think outranks every other we face in this great war: What are we doing to prepare for the consequences of rising temperatures? The same consequences we will face even if we win this battle because the changes we have already caused and the resulting warmer temperatures will be with us for centuries.

I will devote the majority of my future efforts to this topic with a primary focus on the dangers of warmer oceans. Global Warming Insurance is a critical part of my overall plan and it has components that extend beyond sea related matters to problems we face with: heatwaves and related health problems, drought and water conservation, sustainable land management, alleviating and overcoming flooding events, and preparing against the spread of tropical diseases. 

I will - of course - continue to promote, foster, and encourage plans that realistically approach the needs created by warmer oceans: to protect our vital coastal infrastructures from worsening coastal storms, to protect our coastal populations and prepare for more massive evacuation efforts from these worsening storms, to maintain our vital harbors upon which our economy (and the world’s) is based, and to plan for the permanent loss of coastal areas including the possibility of losing parts, or all, of some of our coastal cities.

I believe I have shown that we need to use every tool available if we are to have any chance to win this critical war against global warming. So I will continue to spend time on mitigation efforts and point out strategies and plans I think will enhance our chances for victory; and failing that, to at least achieve a manageable stalemate.

For those of my readers who will miss Today’s News and especially the Headline Section I thank you with all my heart and I offer you the following in consolation. First, I will continue my analysis of the news but as individual posts, so I may better concentrate on this most important aspect of blogging. Second, I will create a new page where I will provide you with a list of all the news sources I used for the Headline, Top Story, and Spotlight sections.

I hope all of my readers, present and future, will find these changes make this a more enjoyable and enlightening blog.

As I part with you, I have one last thought. As you read the news tomorrow about Hurricane Dean and the damage it caused Jamaica, imagine if that happened here. Then imagine the storm surges, that I predict devastated Kingston, had happened to one of our coastal cities.

Finally, since it would never do to post a blog without at least one hyperlink; I am referring you to some unusual sites I uncovered while researching Hurricane Dean. I highly recommend the one on the top which has some truly awesome pictures and videos of storm surges from prior Hurricanes.

• UltimateChase.com
• StormVideographer.com
• Dr. Jeff Masters’ Wunder Blog
• Storm CARIB -updates from Jamaica