Beached

Currently, my lil sis and my boyfriend are stranded on an abandoned island near the maine coast, awaiting rescue. I was the designated rescuer - and managed to flag down a sympathetic family who bore me away to safety. Now I am (mostly) dry and Jeff Pool, the miracle man of South Bristol, is preparing to go rescue the other two. My mom just noticed that, quote, "there is a serious storm right over where they are. No doubt about it, its there. I imagine that they are not going to be happy when they get back." My mom's imaginative powers seldom go far astray.

In honor of this event - which may seem much more fun when we are all cuddled up in front of a fire - I am going to do a little blog about the potential effects of sea level rise on the Maine coast. I found an article published by the Natural Resources Council of Maine on the potential damage that sea level rise could cause. Here are some of the top coastal towns which are expected to be effected:

Arrowsic
Boothbay Harbor
Cranberry Isles
Jonesport
Kennebunkport
Old Orchard Beach
Portland
Scarborough
South Portland
Vinalhaven
Bath

From this assessment, it looks as though even a 1 meter rise will cause damage in several towns, including Portland. Which may be why it looks like Maine is jumping on the global warming bandwagon, and encouraging wind power projects. I am in favor of wind, as it is a clean, renewable and cost-competitive source of energy. Although there is not too much wind going on right now, a lot of projects are currently awaiting approval. Check out the map below for all the suggested Maine wind farms. This map is from http://www.nrcm.org/wind_projects_in_maine.asp - part of the National Resources Council of Maine global warming website.