Friday, December 01, 2006

RedOrbit - Science - Plan May Protect Gulf: Better Storm Tools in Creation

RedOrbit - Science - Plan May Protect Gulf:
Better Storm Tools in Creation: "Federal and state governments are setting into motion plans to protect northern Gulf of Mexico communities from future hazards, policy makers invited to speak at a conference for scientists and coastal natural resource managers said Wednesday.

'The ocean research budget is less now than it was 30 years ago,' said Dr. Frank Muller-Karger, a member of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and a biological oceanographer at the University of South Florida. 'If people like you don't push to fix these problems, they won't be fixed.'

Among the most pressing concerns, Muller-Karger said, are pollution, overfishing, land development and wetland loss, climate change, evolving habitats, red tide and hurricanes."


and then the bombshell:

"Katrina is not the worst-case scenario," said Rob Lowe, who is leading FEMA's efforts to create flood and storm surge maps. "This type of storm comes into the Gulf every 30 or so years. We need to look at a 500-year storm event.""

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