Category: Columbia County Living

How Will Rising Sea Levels Affect Us?

rising sea levels

There is a lot of talk about people’s homes being under water these days when it comes to their mortgages but what about literally being under water?

Sea Levels are rising. Here’s what Climate Central has to say about it:

“Global warming has raised sea level about eight inches since 1880, and the rate of rise is accelerating. Scientists expect 20 to 80 more inches this century, a lot depending upon how much more heat-trapping pollution humanity puts into the sky. This study makes mid-range projections of 1 to 8 inches by 2030, and 4 to 19 inches by 2050, depending upon location across the contiguous 48 states.”

Climate Central has created an interactive map (picture above) to show what these rising sea levels mean for our coastal town. You can check the map out by clicking here and find out if your house might be at the bottom of the sea one day.

Irene Images

I haven’t done too much exploring yet but we did head out briefly yesterday to make a quick trip to the Quickie Mart in New Lebanon. Here are some pictures from Route 20 just outside of town.

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new-lebanon-ny

 

Below is a picture of the creek on my property. Typically, this is a small, trickle of water that frequently dries up entirely. Not yesterday!

Williamsburg on the Hudson

Interesting article in the NY Times looking at the growing influx of hipsters in the Hudson Valley.

Here is an excerpt:

“FROM the venerable general store his grandparents opened in 1919, where you can get hunting knives, cigars, worms, khaki pants and copies of Vogue, Phil Terni has watched Dutchess County’s passing parade for most of his 68 years.

The store has seen celebrated customers — Babe Ruth, Ava Gardner, Artie Shaw, Ruth Bader Ginsburg — amble in and out. And Mr. Terni has seen Millerton prosper as an agricultural crossroads with three hotels served by three railroads, and then decline toward irrelevance as the milk processing plant shut down and the farms died. Still, none of that has prepared him for what he sees outside his door every day.”

You can read the entire article on NYTimes.com by clicking here.

Kylie Minogue Inspired Kinect for Xbox

Check out this Kylie Minogue inspired Kinect.

This Swarovski crystal-studded Kinect was designed by PlayBling in conjunction with Kylie Minogue’s European tour, which started last month. The Kylie Kinect is valued at $1,242 and although you can’t buy one, you can win one by submitting a video of yourself dancing to Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” in the game Dance Central.

I’m still not entirely sure how you submit your video or if this is contest is even open for non-European countries. What I do know, is that I’ll be rehearsing with Dance Central in anticipation of a similar US contest when Kylie’s tour arrives on our shores later this spring.