Is Climate Change Affecting the Texas Coast? – Twitter Says ‘Fake News’
With the UN Climate Change Conference currently taking place across the big pond in Glasgow, Scotland, WFAA-TV in Dallas ran a story studying the effects of climate change on the Texas Gulf Coast.
According to WFAA-TV:
Dr. Phillipe Tissot is the Interim Director of the Conrad Blucher Institute and a professor at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. He uses those gauges to study sea level rise.
“You can see sea level is rising,” [...]
The oldest sea level records in Texas come from Galveston. Data maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show, over last 100 years, sea level is up by 2 feet.
“We need to know how high the water is, and we need to know how high the water will get over the coming years,” Tissot says. "Because, if we build seawalls, if we build the other big infrastructure, those things will cost millions, hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars."
Why is the water rising?
Philippe says you've got to start with emissions from power plants and automobiles which pump huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the air. That carbon traps heat in the atmosphere - which makes the climate hotter.
WFAA posted a picture to Twitter that potentially shows the Houston Space Center underwater if Earth's temperature increases by three degrees Celsius. A response by a Twitter user called the photo and story "fake news."
A couple of responses to the story on YouTube refuted the study. One responder said they have not noticed a change at Galveston in the last 60 years. "Total lie" were the words of another responder to the story.
So, what is your opinion on this story? Tell us what you think on Facebook or on our station app.
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