Massachusetts Launches Effort to Protect Communities from Rising Sea Levels. By Beth Daley, BostGlobe, January 3, 2009. "Massachusetts is kicking off an innovative pilot program to defend the state's 78 coastal communities against rising sea levels and fiercer storms brought on by global warming. The state's Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs announced yesterday that seven communities have been selected to learn how best to adapt to climate change, by doing such things as elevating buildings in flood-prone areas, developing disaster plans for more frequent storms, and prohibiting construction in vulnerable areas. By getting the nod, Boston, Falmouth, Hull, Oak Bluffs, Duxbury, Kingston, and Plymouth will be able to tap into state technical expertise to figure out how to slow erosion, for example, or use laws or education strategies to reduce damage from sea level rise and more frequent storms. The move is part of a growing international effort to accommodate - not just prevent - higher temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, sea level rise, and longer growing seasons from the release of heat-trapping gases from power plants, factories, and cars. New England winters have warmed more than 4 degrees in the last 30 years, bringing with them a host of changes from shifting distribution patterns of tree pests to economic troubles for ice fishing businesses."
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