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Davis Islands, TGH, under water in 2100, researcher says

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By NATALIE SHEPHERD | News Channel 8

Published: October 22, 2009

Updated: 10/22/2009 05:14 pm

TAMPA - What will the Tampa Bay area look like in 2100?

One leading climate change scientist says many famous locations, including places such as Tampa General Hospital and the Salvador Dali Museum could be flooded with seawater.

Gordon Hamilton, a research professor at the University of Maine, has done extensive research on how melting ice in Greenland and Antarctica are affecting global sea levels. Earlier this year, he's noticed a dramatic reduction in Greenland's glaciers.

"Sure enough, the glacier had just disappeared from where it was a few months before and it was now it was five miles further back up the fjord and that's when we knew something really dramatic was happening," he said.

Hamilton is in Tampa as part of the Hip Boot Tour, which is organized by Clean Air-Cool Plant, a nonprofit global warming activist group.

"The implications for the environment and society are pretty alarming," said Hamilton.

The Hip Boot Tour is making stops in cities along the East Coast to discuss the possible effect of melting ice. Events are scheduled for Thursday and Friday in Tampa and St. Petersburg.

At the Florida Aquarium Thursday morning, Hamilton and members of Clean Air Cool Planet put on a presentation to illustrate its point. They used maps to show how much of the bay area could be under water by 2100. Some estimates show water levels rising about three feet. That would put Harbour Islands, Davis Islands and Tampa General Hospital under water.

If water levels rise six feet, MacDill Air Force Base, much of St. Petersburg and Pinellas county beaches would be under water, too.

"In a place like Florida, I hate to say it, but you're probably going to be constantly digging out or shoveling out or bucketing water out of constantly flooded downtowns and neighborhoods," said Dr. Hamilton.

Some scientists say ice in the Arctic and Antarctica is melting and breaking more quickly than first thought. Hamilton said global warming is raising the temperature in subtropical waters. The Gulf Stream then pulls that warmer water up and around the coast of Greenland. He said he increased water temperature is melting the ice more quickly than warmer air temperatures.

But Clean Air Cool Planet believes there are solutions to slow the problem.

Brooks Yeager is executive director of the organization. He said reducing pollutants such as black carbon and methane will help.

"We can get serious about a national emissions reduction strategy in the United States," said Yeager.

Hamilton will give a presentation at 9 a.m. Friday at the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park, 950 Lake Carillon Drive.

Natalie Shepherd can be reached at (813) 225-2703.

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