Interesting in itself, this event also results in another fascinating phenomena: especially high King Tides.
Tides and tidal events occur naturally: caused by the moon and the sun’s gravity. The greatest gravitational forces take place during eclipse conditions (a full or new moon), and especially during a solstice (when the sun is nearest to the earth) and/or a perigee (when the moon is nearest to the earth).
To add to the high water levels – this winter’s King Tides are also taking place during a La Niña winter: especially cold and stormy weather systems.
As a result, the opportunity for Storm Surges (which raise the sea surface water level) to occur during King Tides is increased – and therefore so too is the risk for flooding.
These are all natural phenomena – the cycles of which are well known. The fact they are all coinciding this week may be considered random luck.
Random luck... but also an incredible opportunity...
You see, there are other – unnatural – things happening to our planet as well... due to Climate Change and Global Warming.
Namely, Sea Level is Rising. In fact, global sea levels are expected to rise by over a metre in the next century.
So, this season’s King Tides are in fact a glimpse of what sea level will look like far more frequently in the future.
The BC Government’s Climate Action Secretariat is currently promoting an initiative:
The King Tide Photo Initiative invites British Columbians with cameras to go out and photograph these King Tides.
King Tide photos can be submitted online by joining the LiveSmartBC King Tide group on Flickr.
Rising Sea levels is happening. It’s due to polar ice melt on account of rising temperatures.
Temperatures have been rising at the same time as has the emission and concentration of greenhouse gases – especially Carbon Dioxide (CO2).
So, we can’t stop the inevitable effects of anthropogenic activities. But we can reduce those activities in order to ‘stem the tide’ of these tendencies from increasing even further.
Happy Holidays – maybe I’ll see you out there near the high water with our cameras.
~T~
DATES:
Daily: High Tides
Semi-monthly: Spring Tides (full/new moons, potential eclipses)
Monthly: Lunar Perigee
Quarterly: Solstices & Equinoxes (higher eclipse probability)
2007-2011: La Niña
2010:
December 20: Full Moon
December 20: Total Lunar Eclipse
December 21: Winter Solstice
Yuletide: Storm Surges??
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Waterfront Crescent,Victoria,Canada
