3- Wednesdays, July 11, 1990 - Narth Shore News Bos HUNTER © Fco-Logic ¢ A SURVEY of Canada’s 250,000-kilometre coastline con- ducted by the federal Geoiogical Survey of Canada (GSC) has revealed an awful degree of vulnerability to possible Greenhouse Effect-related changes in sea levels. Operating on the basis of scien- tific findings that suggest a ‘'most likely’’ increase of between 91 and 137 cm in the sea level by the year 2075 due to global warming, geologists warn that Canadians had better start thinking seriously about how to protect our coastal communities. Jn cases where towns and even cities can’t realistically be saved, the GSC scientists add, we had better start making plans similar to those already worked out in New Zealand to relocate entire communities to higher ground. The GSC study, recently refeas- ed by Environment Canada, points out that places like St. John, New Brunswick, face nearly complete devastation if the ocean rises just one metre. “a rise of a few decimetres along the coastline around the Strait of Georgia would cause some sea cliffs to recede, threatening waterfront homes and other developments.” Farmland, homes and industry would be flooded, transportation and sewage systems inundated. According to geologist John Shaw, St. John isn’t the only Ca- nadian city facing a problem as a result of the Greenhouse Effect. **At Halifax,’’ he notes, ‘‘the sea level is rising at a rate of about 40 cm every 100 years, ac- cording to measurements taken over the last 50 years. But deter- mining the rate of sea-level rise is only part of the problem. We also need to know how the coast will respond in terms of shore-line recession and other effects.’’ The town of Placentia in New- foundland is already plagued by flooding caused by extreme tides. It could not withstand any further rise in the sea level at ali. The problem is less severe in areas where the material exposed by wave and tidal action is com- posed of less than 10 per cent sand and gravel. In sandy places erosion will occur much more auickly. On the West Coast, the prob- lems are restricted to a few areas, since roughly 85 per cent of the coastline is made up of steep, rocky cliffs. A rise of even two metres over the next century would scarcely make any dif- ference. But the story would be decidely different elsewhere. John Clague, a GSC geologist working in Vancouver, observes somberly: **A sea-level rise of even a few decimetres would have a major impact on those parts of the Brit- ish Columbia coastline consisting of gravel and sand beaches and bluffs that are highly susceptible 10 erosion by waves and currents. **For example, in southwestern B.C., arise of a few decimetres along the coastline around the Strait of Georgia would cause some sea cliffs to recede, threaten- ing waterfront homes and other developments.” Some two per cent of B.C.’s coastline consists of deltas and estuaries which are critical breeding grounds for birds, as well as providing the rich soils for our very best (and frighteningly limited) farmlands. If predictions about rising sea levels turn out to be accurate, these are the areas that would be inundated. Just one effect of such a disaster would be increased flooding along the lower reaches of the Fraser River. Coastal wetlands would be lost between the advancing sea on one hand and human development on the other. “‘Dikes protecting the Fraser Delta would have to be upgraded at considerable expense should the sea rise as some scientists expect in coming decades,’’ Clague warns. “Significant rises in the sea level would also bring ground- water to the surface in some communities, forcing governments to spend additional funds on plumbing.”’ He also notes that the West Coast has always faced the threat of major earthquakes. Added to this ongoing risk is the fact that earthquakes are becoming more frequent on a global basis, owing — other scientists believe — to the thousands of underground nuclear tests that have been conducted since the Second World War by countries such as the U.S., U.S.S.R., Britain, France, China and India. Recently-published reports strongly suggest that these tests have had the effect of ‘‘loosen- ing’’ the tectonic plates formed by fissures in the earth’s crust. If massive dikes have to be built around an area like the Fraser Delta, an earthquake ‘‘might in- stantly and dramatically change the level of the sea relative to the land,’ meaning don’t hope for terrific returns on real estate in Richmond under such conditions. The GSC study also offers a set of disaster scenarios for our third coastline, the Arctic. A significant rise in sea levels would cause flooding in low-lying coastal areas such as the Arctic Coastal Plain, deltas on the coast of Baffin Island, the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula and the Mckenzie Delta. Warmer temperatures would also mear: that the permafrost would melt, causing the ground to sink. This would increase coastal erosion in places such as the Beaufort Sea. You have oniy to close your eyes and visualize some of your favorite camping and picnicking areas to realize the extent of the potential loss. Magnificent Long Beach comes immediately to mind, along with the tremendous tidal flats at Parksville, the lower slopes of the sandstone cliffs of any number of Gulf Islands, Maplewood Mudflats, you name it. All of them are reasons enough to start thinking seriously about converting from fossil fuels. The car you drive to get to these spots threatens their very existence just a few decades down the road. NV man jailed for assault A 28-YEAR-OLD North Van- couver man was sentenced July 4 in’ North Vancouver provincial court to 10 days in jail for assault. Originally charged with rob- bery, Steven Paul Holm pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of assault in connection with a Jan. {7 incident in North Vancouver. Appearing before Judge J.L. McCarthy, Holm was also put on probation for 18 months and ordered to repay $650 to the vic- tim. 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