Climate Change Insights : Climate Change Law and Policy Lawyers & Attorneys : McKenna Long & Aldridge Law Firm : Climate Change Regulation, Green Strategies, Environmental Policy

At various times in the course of the ongoing climate change debate, there has been a disconnect in some areas of the U.S. between scientific reports such as the WMO's and governmental or other public perceptions of and reactions to climate change.  That appears to be changing, however, based on a couple of recent reports concerning the effects of climate change on particular resources.  For example, as reported by the AP on December 2, Alaska wildlife officials have released a report acknowledging that scientific and traditional evidence increasingly shows climate change at unprecedented rates throughout the Arctic. The Alaska report, entitled "Climate Change Strategy," says warming temperatures could affect Alaska's bodies of water and also notes the potential for fire patterns, altered stream flows, and coastal erosion.  This represents a significant departure for the state, which is suing to overturn the federal listing of polar bears as a threatened species because of declining sea ice habitat. 

In a similar vein, a New York Times piece released just before Thanksgiving notes that residents of the Larchmont neighborhood in Norfolk, VA, are now forced to pay close attention to the lunar calendar to avoid the effects of tidal flooding that increasingly are disrupting life in their community (as well as elsewhere along the East Coast).  The Norfolk residents are forced, among other things, to park their cars in different areas, change their routes, avoid traveling to certain locations at certain times, etc.  The principal cause of this disruption is the fact that Norfolk -- which is bounded on three sides by water -- has experienced the highest relative increase in sea level on the East Coast -- 14.5 inches since 1930.  As water backs up into city streets and front lawns become too saline to support grass, the residents have vigorously lobbied city, state, and federal authorities to take action.  Indeed, significant investments have already been made, but with the sea level continuing to rise, there is a growing perception that it makes less sense to continue to do so.  In any event, as with the report out of Alaska, the issues in Norfolk highlight the disconnect between public perceptions/action regarding climate change and reality that is increasingly difficult to ignore.  So, whereas Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli is trying to prove that a prominent climate scientist engaged in fraud when he was a researcher at the University of Virginia, the affected residents of Norfolk are less interested in such politically motivated debate.  Rather, as one resident interviewed for the Times article expressed, "No one who has a house here is a skeptic."