Global warming scenario sobering

f the Earth warms another two or three degrees, the sea level along North Carolina's coast is projected to rise by as much as two feet, accelerating erosion, destroying recreational beaches and possibly inundating parts of the Outer Banks.

"I think this issue is probably the most pressing issue to North Carolina as well as the other coastal states," Jeffress Williams, a coastal marine geologist with the U.S. Geologic Survey, said Friday to a state panel studying the effects of global warming.

The panel is working on recommendations to be presented to the General Assembly, including some that might be ready for the coming session.

Sea level rose about eight inches on North Carolina's coast during the 20th century, Williams said. As temperatures warm two to three degrees and glaciers melt, the ocean is projected to rise more than twice that much -- from 18 inches to two feet -- by 2100, based on projections by an international panel of climate change experts established by the United Nations. The average temperature increased about one degree between 1900 and 2000.

"We in North Carolina need to pay a lot more attention to the potential impacts of sea level rise and do a lot more planning than we are doing," said Rep. Joe Hackney, co-chairman of the state Commission on Global Climate Change and the likely speaker of the House.

from the News and Observer