Using very conservative assumptions about how much sea level is rising, City of Seattle planners project that within the next 40 years, storm surges and high tides will flood new areas of Seattle. While the sea level is expected to rise six inches, that coupled with an extreme event could raise the water by three to four feet. Continue reading Eyeing Floods of 2050, Seattle Prepares to Hike its Skirt
Cascadia’s Fault’s overwrought jacket copy aside, Jerry Thompson has produced a book that’s not really all that alarmist: In Cascadia’s Fault he’s primarily telling a detective story of sorts, about how scientists uncovered the subduction zone. If you’ve been listening to the subduction zone warnings and want to know more about the basis for them, Thompson’s book delivers that knowledge. He begins at the start of the tale: the 1960s, when the massive 1964 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska and the maturation of plate tectonics theories started leading seismologists to look for evidence of a subduction zone off the Pacific shore. Continue reading Cascadia’s Fault Tells How Scientists Uncovered the Cascadia Subduction Zone
