California studies rising seas
2008-11-15 14:31
San Francisco - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday ordered preparations for rising sea levels from global warming, a startling prospect for the most populous US state with a Pacific Ocean coastline stretching more than 1 290km.
Recorded sea levels rose 18cm during the 20th century in San Francisco, Schwarzenegger said in the executive order for study of how much more the sea could rise, what other consequences of global warming were coming and how the state should react.
California is considered the environmental vanguard of
government in the United States, with its own standards for car
pollution and a law to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the
main gas contributing to global warming.
"The longer that California delays planning and adapting to
sea level rise the more expensive and difficult adaptation will
be," Schwarzenegger said, ordering a report by the end of
2010.