Friday, July 14, 2017

Ignorance is a ticket to the dark side.

What if the flooding occurs because of sea level rise?

To the right is a map of the Fox River in Wisconsin and Illinois. Kindly note it links with the Illinois River.

July 13, 2017

Racine County, Wisconsin - The Fox River in Burlington (click here) crested early Thursday at 16.5 feet, an official said, a full three feet higher than the previous record set nearly a decade ago.

The previous record of 13.54 feet was set in 2008. The river is normally about 4 feet, and flood stage is 11 feet....

...Flooding knocked out a We Energies substation at about 5:45 p.m. in the Burlington area, leaving thousands without power. Crews worked on rerouting power from other areas. The communities affected include the city of Burlington, the town of Burlington, Dover and Rochester.

Hefty declared a state of emergency Wednesday morning for the municipality. She encouraged property owners to monitor the Fox and White River levels and expect increased flooding and to not boat on the Fox River.

Sand bags were filled and distributed to the community. Two pick-up points are: Walgreens, 680 Milwaukee Ave.; and Karcher Middle School, 225 Robert St.

One Burlington homeowner said he'd just walked out of his basement when he heard water busting through a window and flooding his home....


This is completely counter intuitive. Ready?

The map to the right is the Illinois River in Illinois. It is long and crosses the state, where does the Illinois River connect to?

The Illinois River is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River. The river runs approximately 273 miles (439 km) long, in the U.S. state of Illinois. This river was important among Native Americans and early French traders as the principal water route connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi. The Illinois River meets the Mississippi at Pere Marquette State Park, which is near Grafton. The confluence of the rivers offers vistas that seem endless.

The Illinois River is relatively shallow, just like the Mississippi. In addition, the Illinois River is a "managed" river, just as the Mississippi River is. In 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River through the Illinois River to promote commerce....

What happens to water with gravity? Water is always level right? If there is a flood as during Katrina the force of the winds created a devastating reality, but, the river eventually receded and went back "into it's banks."

What if that water never settled into it's banks on an old 'baseline,' but, a new baseline caused by sea level rise? What if the water in the delta of the Mississippi River is higher today without accounting for sea level rise?


What if the level of not only the Mississippi is effected by sea level rise, but, also the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes?

No one actually believes sea level rise ends at the USA shoreline, right?

This is pure speculation and an institute like Wood Hole Oceanographic Institute would have to validate it, but, there was an enormous iceberg that was once the Larsen C Iceshelf a land based ice mass.

The launch of that iceberg is only a spectator sport, right? I mean everyone sheds a silent tear because some ice is gone from Antarctica. But, no one actually believes it is all that benign, right?

See, I don't think it was the rain alone that flooded the Fox River. I think there is a missing element to that equation and nearly invisible to most government agencies BECAUSE, in the case of Florida, scientists can't even SAY THE WORDS Global Warming, etc.

I strongly believe as the land based ice structures melt and calve into the oceans the oceans do rise. Mass is constant. I do not believe there is a magical force field protecting ANY RIVER, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD from increasing it's depths/height because of a rising ocean.

We are seeing more and more damage from rivers, streams, creeks that normally were benign and simply took on the rain and overland flow (water runoff over land), swelled and flowed downstream while increasing water heights down stream.

What if all the water didn't reach the delta of a river? What if an increment stayed behind, what would happen during the next rainstorm? Would the creek, stream or river handle the same size rainstorm the same way or would the water level be a little higher? Because, as example, we know the delta of the Mississippi is being met with sea level rise in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, if the ocean water of the Gulf is higher, the delta is going to be higher and the Mississippi will be higher, then the Illinois River would be higher and the Fox River would be higher BEFORE THE STORM EVEN STARTED.

In the news are often the words, "I've never seen the river like that and I've lived here all my life." That statement is highly correct, not just from the rain, but, from the increased height of a benign and friendly stream. When the rain starts, the flowing water is no longer a friend that soaks up such a large rainstorm, but, a raging torrent all because no one said, "What is going to happen INLAND when the oceans rise due to sea level rise?"

One question. Just one question. One question oppressed by politics and it kills people, damages property and destroys the plans and hopes of generations. Dredging is not going to do it. Dredging assumes there is too much silt in the bottom of the river. If digging a hole makes a city or county government feel better, then they have just wasted a ton of money because the new hole will soak up water from the oceans to EQUAL the water level all over the world. 

If sea level rise is worrying coastal areas, it better be worrying the management of inland water ways as well. This FACT effects emergency management, not dredging. It effects FEMA and newly realized flood plains the the possibility of rebuilding. It means cities and towns can be lost as sea level rise effects the coast as well as the lands along the Mississippi, St. Lawrence Seaway and the Florida Everglades.

I don't believe the lock systems of the rivers like the St. Lawrence and Mississippi-Illinois River are completely benign to sea level rise. Water is water and it has weight and force and it will provide a rising level all along the way, eventually.

Oh, by the way, what do the property tax income look like now?