Author: Larry Richardson

Thank you for visiting my website! I'm an experienced and licensed drone pilot, photographer, videographer, real estate agent (voluntarily inactive), journalist and social media influencer. At my visual media company, Big Deal Media, I've used my skills to shoot stills and videos for businesses, real estate agents, private property owners, news outlets and event hosts. As The Step by Step Chef, I've published cookbooks and created hundreds of cooking videos for my StepByStepChef.com website that have attracted over 14 million views. I'm an honors graduate of the University of Southern California's School of Journalism with years of experience in marketing, advertising, public relations and public affairs. I look forward to putting my knowledge and experience to work for you!

Louisiana, a Top Fossil Fuel Producer, Announces Plans to Combat Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards held a press conference this week to announce his administration’s plans to combat climate change and sea level rise. The announcement was especially notable because it was made in a state that’s a major producer of oil, gas and petrochemicals.

“Science tells us that rising sea level will become the biggest challenge we face, threatening to overwhelm our best efforts to protect and restore our coast,” said Gov. Edwards, who spoke at the Louisiana State University Center for River Studies in Baton Rouge. “Science also tells us that sea level rise is being driven by global greenhouse gas emissions.”

According to an article posted on NOLA.com, the governor announced the creation of a Climate Initiatives Task Force that will recommend concrete steps that the state can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and handle the increased flooding that’s sure to occur as seas continue to rise in the decades to come.

Louisiana is facing a difficult challenge. The Environmental Integrity Project reported in January that in 2018 alone three plants emitted 764 million tons of greenhouse gases, which are driving global warming. That’s an 8% increase over 2016. The group said industrywide plans to expand facilities in the state could increase release of the heat-trapping gases by almost a third by 2025.

Edwards said the state will work with energy and petrochemical companies to find solutions to climate change. He said he’s also appointing a chief resilience officer to make all state agencies aware of what’s being done to combat climate change and sea level rise.

Some environmental groups applauded the governor’s announcement. “To protect the future of our state, we must do everything we can to limit the rate of sea level rise,” Steve Cochran, an Environmental Defense Fund official, told NOLA.com. “We must adapt to changes that are already occurring along our coast, and we must think long term about our jobs. …. This is what progress looks like.”

Boston Mounts an Aggressive Plan to Battle Sea Level Rise Flooding

Much of Boston, MA, is built on landfill, which makes it especially vulnerable to sea level rise flooding. With estimates ranging anywhere from 10 inches of global sea level rise to over seven feet by the end of this century, the city is mounting an aggressive plan to hold back the rising seas, according to a Washington Post article.

With over nine inches of sea level rise racked up since the beginning of the last century, areas of Boston are already experiencing sea level rise flooding that’s especially noticeable during extra high king tides in the fall.

To fight back against sea level rise flooding and the higher than normal storm surges it can bring, the Boston’s mayor is dedicating more than $30 million a year to address the problem. Among the projects are elevating streets and parks, and building higher berms and sea walls. City officials are concerned that they’re not doing enough to protect residents and real estate in the poorest neighborhoods, but they are considering options.

Despite the effort to combat sea level rise, Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, told the Post, Boston and other coastal cities may still ultimately have to retreat from the rising seas. He said, “It is what a lot of cities will have to do because a lot of neighborhoods are not defensible.”

Boston’s experience with sea level rise flooding as discussed in this article is yet another example of why buyers, sellers, owners and real estate agents in coastal areas need to educate themselves on which properties and neighborhoods are experiencing sea level rise flooding and what, if anything, can be done to hold back the rising tides.

Hawaii’s Trying to Decide Where to Allow New Real Estate Developments in Areas Threatened by Sea Level Rise

Lawmakers in Hawaii are taking on an issue few coastal states are ready to address: Where do you allow new real estate developments when scientists are predicting up to three-to-six feet of sea level rise by the end of this century?

The answer could have a huge impact on real estate developers, builders and people seeking affordable housing.

According to a report on Honolulu Civil Beat, some legislators in Hawaii are promoting a bill that would prevent new construction in areas below 6 1/2 feet of the current sea level. With land elevations varying greatly, that would still allow some construction right on the shore while developers wouldn’t be allowed within a half mile of beaches in other areas. Builders in Honolulu say that limit would prevent them from constructing many new developments, including projects that would be sold at a more affordable price point.

The stakes are high for Hawaii. Scientists predict that even 3.2 feet of sea level rise by 2100 would displace more than 13,000 people and lead to $12.9 billion in economic losses in Oahu alone.

As in other states, there are areas in Hawaii where coastal real estate is already experiencing flooding due to rising seas. Finding solutions that serve the needs of current generations while looking out for the future is a difficult political tightrope to walk. Further complicating the issue is the fact that the burning of fossil fuels, global warming, and rising sea levels are continuing at an accelerating pace, which makes it difficult to issue the accurate predictions coastal communities need for planning purposes.

That Hawaii is discussing this difficult issue is commendable. Other states need to step up to the plate to protect people and property.

FEMA’s Updated Flood Maps Will Impact Flood Insurance Premiums in South Florida

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers the National Flood Insurance Program, has been touring South Florida to inform real estate owners about how proposed flood maps based on the latest data will impact their flood insurance premiums.

Owners whose property is included in flood zones will pay higher premiums under the new maps that will take effect in 18 months to two years. Experts recommend that they purchase flood insurance now, before insurance premiums spike under the new designation. If they act now, they will not have to pay the substantially higher rates new policy buyers will have to pay as their existing policies will be grandfathered in when the zones change.

The new maps aren’t all bad news. With the new data removing some properties from flood zones, some lucky owners may actually see a reduction in flood insurance premiums.

People involved in real estate in coastal areas need to keep in mind that FEMA maps don’t consider future sea level rise or king tide flooding. Buyers especially need to perform due diligence to find out if a property experiences sea level rise flooding or may experience flooding in the period they expect to own it. Not knowing a property’s flooding status could result in a loss of property value and higher carrying costs, including maintenance, flood insurance, taxes and condo and homeowners association fees.

Local governments have officials who can help property owners who missed the FEMA meetings to decide what to do next.

South Carolina Latest State to Consider Hiring a Sea Level Rise Resiliency Chief

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster has proposed the creation of a chief resiliency office position at the highest levels of state government to help coordinate the state’s response to extreme storms and sea level rise flooding.

According to a report in The Post and Courier, the resiliency chief would develop plans to seek federal funding for flood mitigation projects, control development in vulnerable areas, and improve how the state responds to disasters.

If the new position is approved, South Carolina would join Florida and North Carolina — states long considered resistant to discussing climate change and sea level rise flooding — in appointing a high level official to deal with the problems created by global warming.

The South Carolina climate change czar would also be responsible for collecting the latest climate change information and relaying it to government officials and the public. Local government officials have told the state they need money for seawalls, drainage improvements and other projects to hold back rising tides. Charleston alone estimates it needs $2 billion to protect residents and real estate.

It’s unclear at this point whether Gov. McMaster’s proposal will get the support it needs from the state legislature. Meanwhile, sea level continues to rise.

Norfolk, VA, Group Hosts Contests to Develop Sea Level Rise Mitigation Programs

As cities and towns along the U.S. coastline scramble to address sea level rise flooding, a non-profit, economic development group in Norfolk, VA, is hosting contests to encourage the private sector to develop ideas.

Norfolk is experiencing some of the fastest sea level rise in the country, and it’s desperate for solutions. The city is using a share of a $120 million grant the State of Virginia received from the federal government to improve its resiliency to flooding.

Among the programs the city supports is an economic incubator called RISE, which is giving seed money to six small businesses that won a contest by submitting innovative proposals to address sea level rise and climate change. The ideas include teaching local business contractors how to elevate houses and establishing oyster reefs to protect the shoreline from storm surge.

This year’s RISE Coastal Community Resilience Challenge includes an invitation for company’s to submit proposals to develop an app that will give drivers real-time flooding information. The group is also looking for proposals to deal with stormwater in parking lots, detect sudden intense rainstorms, and beach sand replenishment.

For more information visit RiseResilience.org.

Are Miami Area Real Estate Owners Ready for 13-Foot Tall Walls to Control Storm Surge?

How do you protect nearly 3 million residents and $311 billion worth of real estate in and around Miami from more intense storm surges driven by climate change and rising seas? That’s the challenge taken on by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the solution its proposing could have a massive impact on real estate owners.

According to a report in the Miami Herald, the Corps has drafted a proposal that includes 10-to-13-foot high walls, moveable storm surge barriers for canal and river openings, along with the elevation of 10,000 homes and floodproofing of 7,000 buildings. The proposal, due to be formally released this spring, carries an $8 billion price tag, 65% of which would be federally funded. Local governments would pick up the rest of the cost.

Included in the proposal is the purchase of 350 properties through eminent domain to make room for the walls. If the plan is approved, the Corps aims to start construction on the massive project by 2026.

The Corps’ plans could have a major impact on the real estate market in Miami and Miami-Dade County. Some property owners could face the prospect of losing their real estate to eminent domain. Those who remain could see a spike in their property taxes and a loss in property value due to the higher taxes and proximity to flood-control structures. For example, properties that lose their water views to concrete walls could witness a drop in value.

Clearly something has to be done to reduce the threat posed by storm surge driven by climate change and rising seas. To protect their real estate investment and financial futures, buyers, sellers, owners and real estate agents need to get involved when the final details are being hammered out over the next year.

One point to keep in mind is that the Corps’ plan only addresses storm surge, not sea level rise itself. Because South Florida is built on porous rock, seawater can seep under walls.

Another important point that needs to be considered is that Miami and Miami-Dade County aren’t the only coastal real estate markets facing upheaval due to climate change and sea level rise flooding. Cities and towns all along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coastlines are struggling to draft effective plans to combat rising waters. Coming up with the billions of dollars needed to fund their projects is a whole other problem.

Why Coastal Real Estate Buyers, Sellers, Owners & Realtors Should Be Concerned About an Iceberg that Just Broke Off Antarctica

It’s well established that climate change — global warming — is causing glaciers to melt at an ever-quickening pace in Antarctica and Greenland. As a result, sea levels too are rising at a faster rate every year.

The challenge for scientists gathering the data government officials, planners and buyers, sellers, owners and real estate agents in coastal cities need to make informed decisions in response to the rising waters is that there is more than glacial melting that can cause sea level to rise. The warming atmosphere and oceans are also eating away at ice shelves floating on the ocean that are the only barriers holding back inland glaciers that, if uncorked by the loss of the floating ice shelves, could raise sea levels not just by inches but by feet.

This point was illustrated today when satellite data showed sometime between February 8 and 9 an iceberg twice the size of Washington, DC, broke off the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica. The enormous iceberg itself won’t directly affect sea level rise. Floating ice already displaces a volume of water equal to the amount of water that runs off into the ocean as it melts.

The concern is that this calving event, the latest in increasingly frequent calving events, is another step in glacial retreat that could clear the way for an enormous amount of inland ice to flow into the sea, which would speed up sea level rise. In fact, if inland ice associated with the Pine Island Glacier and nearby Thwaites Glacier were free to flow into the sea, global sea levels could rise by as many as four feet.

Scientists don’t expect The Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier to slide into the sea tomorrow, but they’re still gathering the data they need to estimate when it could happen. With communities all along the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coastlines already spending billions of dollars to combat sea level rise flooding, buyers, sellers, owners and real estate agents need to keep up on the latest developments in Antarctica and Greenland as if they were local stories. Ultimately, they are.

(The photo from the European Space Agency shows cracks forming on the ice shelf of the Pine Island Glacier in September 2019.)

Record Temperatures in Antarctica May Signal More Rapid Sea Level Rise

A weather station in Antarctica recorded the hottest temperature ever reached on Earth’s southern-most continent. Scientists at Argentina’s Esperanza research station on the Antarctic Peninsula said the temperature hit 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

Randall Cerveny, an official with the World Meteorological Organization, told National Public Radio, “This is unfortunately a continuing trend.” The station set the just-broken heat record in 2015. Cerveny added, “We are seeing these high temperature records — not only in Antarctica, but across the entire world — fall, whereas we just don’t see cold temperature records anymore.”

The last decade was the hottest ever recorded. Researchers are concerned that this is setting up a positive feedback loop where the warmer weather warms seawater which melts glaciers which causes even more warming. The end result is that the seas rise at an ever quickening pace, which puts more coastal areas at risk of flooding.

Melting glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland are the greatest contributors to sea level rise. Scientists worry that instability in the ice sheets due to global warming could lead to a massive release of ice and meltwater into the oceans. They’re working to understand the many ways warm air and seawater are impacting the glaciers. Their findings will help buyers and owners to decide where it’s safe to invest in coastal real estate.

Scientists Identify the Greatest Obstacle to Educating Real Estate Owners about the Threat of Sea Level Rise Flooding

Social scientists studying the effectiveness of climate change communications strategies wrote an opinion piece that concluded personal financial interest is the leading cause of real estate owners in coastal areas denying that sea level rise flooding poses a threat to their property.

Risa Palm, a professor of Urban Studies and Public Health at Georgia State University, and Toby W. Bolsen, an associate professor of American politics in the political science department at Georgia State, wrote the column for The Conversation. They said they showed property owners who lived in South Florida neighborhoods at-risk of sea level rise flooding and hurricane storm surge maps produced by First Street Foundation that indicated that their properties could be inundated or be impacted in other ways by floodwaters in the next 15 years. Their homes were also identified as being at risk of devaluation due to their proximity to the threat of sea level rise flooding.

“Surprisingly, we found that those who had viewed the maps were on average, less likely to say they believed that climate change was taking place than those who had not seen the maps,” Palm and Bolsen wrote. “Further, those who saw the maps were less likely than those survey respondents who had not seen the maps to believe that climate change was responsible for the increased intensity of storms.”

The researchers said Republicans surveyed “had the strongest negative response to the maps.” In fact, they found “party identification was the strongest predictor of general perceptions of climate change and sea level rise.” Ultimately, however, they said, “the majority of homeowners denied that there was a risk to their property values, regardless of political affiliation.”

In the end, Palm and Bolsen recommended that governments and organizations trying to educate the public about the threat of sea level rise flooding not only use easy to understand facts but a “nuanced approach” to change the way the information is perceived. Or, as they said, “As advertisers well know, it takes more than facts to sell any product.” To get people to stop and pay attention, the information also needs “an emotional hook.”

This study may explain why buyers continue to purchase property and owners continue to hold real estate that scientists have clearly identified as at-risk of sea level rise flooding within the next couple of decades. Unfortunately, turning a blind eye to this factual information won’t save them as the seas continue to rise at an ever-quickening pace.