I keep breaking my promise to avoid the Delaware beaches in the summer. This time, I got a different view–of the bayside of Dewey Beach, DE. From inside an air-conditioned apartment rented by my sister-in-law.
We did venture out. It was beastly hot, with no breeze. I wondered if the cause were global warming or merely mind-numbing mid-Atlantic heat and humidity? Is it simply tougher to endure as you age? Just a flimsy excuse?
My mind wandered: move for the summer to Maine to escape the heat, though others would be doing the same, eat lobster rolls and pretend that all is right with the world? It would have been an ideal way to escape our smothering, sizzlingly heated presidential campaign. It’s too late now. Next summer, the world will still be worrisome and unsettled–but no God-forsaken, seemingly unending campaign, will be hounding us.
Why head back to the Delaware beaches despite my constant protestations about an onslaught of people and cars. Tradition is tough to break. Our family has been vacationing in the First State for 40 years. My wife’s family began reaching the beach after WW II.
As noted, the heat and humidity were unbearable on Sunday, August/14. It cooled to some degree on Monday and Tuesday. I sat on the beach Tuesday for a few hours. The sea breeze was a Godsend. The ocean provided a cool break, as it’s supposed to.
In 40 years of vacationing on the Delaware beaches, I can recall few, if any times we turned on the air conditioning. This time we never turned it off. A screened porch, always an end-of-day oasis for drink and food, was hot and uncomfortable. We withstood it, mostly out of tradition.
To no surprise for the readers of this column, I blame global warming for temperatures that seem to get hotter and last longer in recent summers. Formerly short-lived heat waves continue to lengthen and affect our lifestyles and moods.
While reading newspapers during our three-day stay, I learned that Hoboken, NJ is planning to adapt to an anticipated surge of storms by building barriers. Interesting dilemma: the barriers will block water views, an acceptable solution to some, a miserable one to others. To me, living far from Frank Sinatra’s birthplace, protection supersedes destruction. Reality trumps fantasy.
While I might seem dismissive of Hoboken residents objecting to loss of water views, I shouldn’t be. Erection of barriers represents a significant cultural change. That hurts. Were I embedded in this northern New Jersey city, I too would find it tough to accept such a drastic physical change in my community. But, then, I might enjoy peace of mind prompted by loss, if not diminution of fear of a ruthless and sometimes deadly storm surge.
The flooding in Baton Rouge, LA got my attention too. I read that a public official, acknowledging the city’s location in a flood plain, wondered if the storm surge potential is heightened by global warming. The disruption of lives is incalculable. The 13 deaths are alarming.
As last week cooled to temperatures in the 80s–and we welcomed this “cold spell”–
I still could not restrain myself from focusing on global warming and the erratic weather it spawns. While battling the heat and feeling tethered to air conditioning–ignoring its detrimental carbon footprint–I thought again about sea level rise and its potential damage to Talbot County and its waterfront communities.
In yet another column, I continue to dwell on climate change and bemoan the awful consequences. I hope readers don’t grow tiresome of my foreboding. As I’ve often said, denial is not an option. We’ve seen the consequences. At some point, these disasters won’t be elsewhere. They will afflict our county and neighbors and friends.
The worse part of summer nears an end. At the end of each of the recent summers, I feel increasingly more grateful.
No wonder.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.
Brian Ambrette says
Mr. Freedlander’s perception that heat waves (three or more consecutive days above 90 degrees) are becoming more common is in line with data from weather stations around the Delmarva region. According to Accuweather.com the mercury has exceeded 90 degrees 36 days so far this summer in Easton. With several weeks yet to go in summer and another heat wave in the forecast this weekend into next week, we are well ahead of the 30 or so days we typically see. Projections by the University of Maryland are for 40-60 such days by late this century. In this new world, it would be a rare day in July that didn’t go above 90 and a rare week that didn’t see at least one 100 degree day.
The weather has always been variable for the Eastern Shore. Underlying that daily and yearly variability, however, the trend of temperatures is very clearly upward. Globally, every decade since the 1950’s has been hotter than the preceding decade (source: NOAA), and all of the 15 hottest years on record have occurred since 1998 (source: NOAA).
Residents of the Eastern Shore have been adapting to the weather for centuries. As an agricultural and maritime culture, it’s what we do. The current rising trend in temperature, along with trends in precipitation and sea level, are greater than any we’ve had to cope with in the past. Simply making do won’t do anymore. Proactive planning and adaptation can help preserve the best parts of Eastern Shore culture while ensuring that our children inherit a vibrant, livable future. Here. On the Eastern Shore.