Record flooding was seen Thursday afternoon in the North End and the downtown Boston waterfront as a 3 foot storm surge came in with a 12 foot high tide on the harbor. Flood waters reached the Rose Kennedy Greenway, a first in Boston, and the highest levels since the Blizzard of ’78. The Aquarium T Read More…
“King Tide,” the recurring high tides coincident with supermoons once again brought flooding on Sunday to waterfront paths behind the tennis courts, Langone Park and the Eliot School (under construction) on Commercial Street. Janine Coppola captures the sea level rise of Boston Harbor in the above photos. Long Wharf is another low point that regularly Read More…
Things to know for Tuesday! Tall Ships in Boston through June 22nd. This event is comprised of over 50 majestic ships from around the world. The parade kicked off five days of nautical festivities including re-enactments, musical performances, ceremonies and daily free public boarding of the ships. Visit SAIL BOSTON for more information. 11:00 a.m. Eliot School Renovation Groundbreaking at 585 Read More…
Boston’s Chief of Environment, Open Space, and Energy, Austin Blackmon, spoke about the latest Climate Ready Boston report at this week’s North End / Waterfront Neighborhood Council (NEWNC). As summarized in this previous post, the new assessment highlights the city’s vulnerability to rising sea levels. The comprehensive report (pdf) issued by the Climate Ready Boston initiative details how the rising tides Read More…
As revelers made their 2017 New Year’s polar plunge in Boston’s waters, a new report issued just before the holidays made yet another sobering assessment of the city’s vulnerability to rising sea levels. The comprehensive report (pdf) issued by the Climate Ready Boston initiative details how the rising tides will soon start to engulf city neighborhoods in the coming decades. A Read More…
King Tides are visiting Boston’s waterfront this week with the highest sea levels seen this year. These photos are from Monday, October 17th around Long Wharf with many residents and visitors drawn to the rising seas. King Tide is roughly two feet higher than normal high tide (and lower than low tide) caused by the alignment of Read More…
Boston City Councilor LaMattina and Council President Michelle Wu are attending a conference this week in the Netherlands and Denmark sponsored by the Boston Green Ribbon Commission. The GRC is to bring together public, philanthropic and business leaders in Boston to learn about cutting edge European practices for achieving carbon neutrality, resiliency and long-term climate preparedness. Read More…
A sobering new report predicts continued increases in Boston’s sea levels, extreme precipitation and higher temperatures. Climate Ready Boston is an initiative led by the City of Boston in partnership with the Green Ribbon Commission to develop resilient solutions to prepare our city for climate change. The group released worrying climate projections for what Boston Read More…
If Blizzard Juno’s storm surge of 4.74 feet hit during high tide, it would have been a “100-year” flood event for Boston’s waterfront, reports Julie Wormser of The Boston Harbor Association. We were again very lucky as the surge hit during low-tide just after 11 a.m. on Tuesday. (See NOAA’s tide and current data.) Despite the miss, the morning Read More…
I do a fair amount of speaking about climate change and the seawater headed my way, and the one question that always comes up is: “But what can I do?” One thing you could do right now is email Sen. Edward Markey http://www.markey.senate.gov/contact.cfm and Sen. Elizabeth Warren http://www.warren.senate.gov/?p=email_senator and ask: “Why do we need all the lights Read More…
The nor’easter snowstorm started off the year with not only 14 inches of snow to the North End waterfront, but a record high tide from Boston Harbor. The rising sea level resulted in significant flooding shortly after noon on Friday, January 3rd. Harbor levels appeared higher than those seen during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 despite Read More…
New preliminary flood zone maps have been published by FEMA and the flood line for the Boston’s North End / Waterfront goes much further inland than the previous risk assessment. If the maps released on November 15, 2013 go into effect as planned, property owners within the 1% chance flood line (i.e., the 100-year flood) Read More…