Florida Keys prepare for sea level rise

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — Hurricane storm surge can inundate the narrow, low-lying Florida Keys, but that is far from the only water worry for officials.

A tidal gauge operating since before the Civil War has documented a sea level rise of 9 inches in the last century, and officials expect that to double over the next 50 years. So when building a new Stock Island fire station, county authorities went ahead added a foot and a half over federal flood planning directives that the ground floor be built up 9 feet.

Seasonal tidal flooding that was once a rare inconvenience is now so predictable that some businesses at the end of Key West's famed Duval Street stock sandbags just inside their front doors, ready anytime.

"It's really easy to see during our spring high tides that the sea level is coming up — for whatever reason — and we have to accommodate for that," said Johnnie Yongue, the on-site technician at the fire station for Monroe County's project management department.

While New York City's mayor was announcing a dramatic multibillion-dollar plan for flood walls and levees to hold back rising water levels there, sea walls like those that encase the Netherlands wouldn't help much in the Keys, as a lack of coastal barriers isn't the island chain's only problem.

"Our base is old coral reef, so it's full of holes," says Alison Higgins, the sustainability coordinator for the city of Key West. "You've got both the erosion and the fact that (water) just comes up naturally through the holes."

The Keys' plans for adapting to rising sea levels sound a lot like the way they prepare for hurricanes: track the incoming disturbance, adjust infrastructure accordingly and communicate potential risks to residents — all, hopefully, without scaring off the tourists who treasure the islands for their fishing, Technicolor sunsets, eccentric characters and a come-as-you-are social scene that has attracted the likes of Ernest Hemingway, U.S. presidents and flamboyant female impersonators.

In many sea level projections for the coming century, the Keys, Miami and much of southern Florida partially sink beneath potential waves. However, officials are quick to note that the Keys' beloved resorts and marinas and airport — with a runway averaging just over 2 feet above sea level — aren't disappearing underwater overnight.

The Keys and three South Florida counties agreed in 2010 to collaborate on a regional plan to adapt to climate change. The first action plan developed under that agreement was published in October and calls for revamped planning policies, more public transportation options, stopping seawater from flowing into freshwater supplies and managing the region's unique ecosystems so that they can adapt, too.

Before writing the plan, the counties reviewed regional sea level data and projected a rise of 9 to 24 inches in the next 50 years.

"The rate's doubled. It would be disingenuous and sloppy and irresponsible not to respond to it," Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi, who oversees the Keys.

In addition to the regional plan, Monroe County aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and to incorporate future sea level rise projections into infrastructure planning.

"We clearly have the most to lose. If sea-level rise is not curtailed by immediate reductions in greenhouse gases, the Florida Keys may eventually become unlivable," according to a March draft of the county's plans. "Planning decisions should take into consideration medium to extreme sea level rise predictions."

Sea level rise will be considered as projects come up, Gastesi said. Once the Stock Island fire station is completed, next in line for possible elevation or additional drainage are a nearby park, then roads and bridges.

In Key West, city officials are exploring the use of cisterns to catch rainwater for non-potable uses, to avoid taxing mainland freshwater resources.

Key West also wants to switch its municipal vehicle fleet to hybrid or electric vehicles but is concerned that their low-hanging batteries will render them useless in storm-flooded streets. The conundrum illustrates the shift in the worldwide conversation on global warming, from focusing on cutting greenhouse gas emissions to adapting to climate change.

"How do we both want to go greener and mitigate our carbon footprint but at the same time adapt to the fact that the sea water is still coming up on us anyway?" Higgins says.

The Keys are among the cities and coastal areas worldwide building or planning defenses to protect people and infrastructure from more powerful storm surges and other effects of global warming.

New York City has proposed installing removable flood walls, restoring marshes, and flood-proofing homes.

In Cuba, the largest island in the Caribbean and one dependent on European and Canadian tourists, inspectors and demolition crews are planning to raze thousands of houses, restaurants, hotels and improvised docks to restore much of the coast to something approaching its natural state. A luxury tourist destination, the Maldives, has built a seawall around its capital, plans to relocate residents from vulnerable islands to better protected ones and is creating new land through land reclamation, expanding existing islands or building new ones.

As the Keys have realized, adaptations to climate change have to be made on a case-by-case basis, says Joe Vietri, director of the Army Corps of Engineering's National Planning Center of Expertise for Coastal Storm Damage Reduction, which has begun a $20 million study exploring ways to protect the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region from sea level rise and extreme flooding caused by hurricanes.

"The good news is if you start now, you have plenty of time to affect some meaningful change," Vietri said. "I'm very pleased with the work that a lot of municipalities are doing. They got a major wake-up call during (Superstorm) Sandy."

The study will weigh the pros and cons of defenses such as sea walls, maintaining barrier islands and marshes and even reducing the number of people living along the coastline.

"You don't necessarily rip up communities, as a rule, in the U.S. You have to balance these things," Vietri said. "In some cases it might make sense in areas where there hasn't been heavy investment in development to limit development in those areas and allow the water to do what it needs to do."

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Follow Jennifer Kay on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jnkay .

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Radiation level halts Fukushima cleanup

The new system is supposed to absorb cesium from the highly-contaminated water at the crippled plant.The company had just implements the new cleanup system Friday night The new system is seen as a key part of TEPCO's plan to handle the nuclear crisisIt is supposed to absorb cesium from the water

(CNN) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday that it has temporarily halted the operation of a new cleanup system aimed at cleaning radioactive water in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant because of higher than expected radiation levels.

The company had just implemented the new cleanup system Friday night, and the system was seen as a key part of TEPCO's plan to handle the nuclear crisis.

The new system is supposed to absorb cesium from the highly-contaminated water.

This apparent setback comes a little more than three months into the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi, the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

One of three operating reactors at the plant melted down after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the other two suffered extensive damage to their radioactive cores.

Though no deaths have been attributed to the accident, the resulting contamination has forced authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 people from towns surrounding the plant.

In addition, restrictions on various agricultural and fisheries products have devastated Japanese farmers and fishermen since the disaster began, though some of those bans have been lifted in recent weeks.

CNN

Army suicides at highest level in a year

Army reports 21 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers in MayJune 2010 had same number but more potential suicides"A spike in cases does not necessarily mean a trend," spokesman says

Washington (CNN) -- May was the worst month in a year for suicides and potential suicides in the active-duty Army, the Pentagon announced Thursday.

The Army reported 21 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers in May. One of them has been confirmed; the other 20 are under investigation. In the past, most of the cases investigated were confirmed to be suicides.

May's number was the highest for one month since June 2010, which at the time was the worst month in recent memory for Army suicides.

There were also 21 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers in June 2010, but that month also saw 11 potential suicides among the Guard and Reserves. Last month, there were six potential suicides in the National Guard and Reserves, so June 2010 remains worse.

The latest data continue to show that suicide statistics in the Army frequently fluctuate. April saw 16 potential suicides, more than twice the number in March, when seven cases were investigated.

The Army says it's tough to know why suicide cases increase even as the entire Pentagon is trying to solve the problem. But spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Warren said, "a spike in cases does not necessarily mean a trend."

CNN

U.S. tax burden at lowest level since '58

Americans are paying the smallest share of their income for taxes since 1958, a reflection of tax cuts and a weak economy, a USA TODAY analysis finds.

The total tax burden — for all federal, state and local taxes — dropped to 23.6% of income in the first quarter, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

By contrast, individuals spent roughly 27% of income on taxes in the 1970s, 1980s and the 1990s — a rate that would mean $500 billion of extra taxes annually today, one-third of the estimated $1.5 trillion federal deficit this year.

The analysis comes as President Obama and Congress debate whether to cut federal spending, raise taxes or both.

The latest dip in the tax burden came from a Social Security tax cut included in a December budget deal between Democrats and Republicans. It will reduce taxes $100 billion this year.

"We have a 1950s level of taxation and a 21st-century-sized government," says Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a deficit-reduction advocacy group.

The fall in taxes is almost entirely caused by a weak economy rather than lower rates, says Curtis Dubay of the conservative Heritage Foundation. "It's easy to draw the wrong conclusion," he says.

Federal, state and local government spending hit a $5.6 trillion annual rate in the first quarter. That's the highest ever but, as a share of the economy, slightly below last year.

USA TODAY examined the full range of taxes that individuals pay to all levels of government. That includes income taxes for Medicare, property taxes for schools and gas taxes for roads.

At the national average, a person with an income of $100,000 would pay $23,600 in taxes today vs. $28,700 in 2000 and $27,300 in 1990.

The recession of 2001 and tax cuts championed by President Bush started a decade-long trend of taxing less income. The 2007-09 recession and new tax cuts in Obama's stimulus effort accelerated the change.

The one-year Social Security tax cut reduces the worker's rate from 6.2% to 4.2% — or $2,000 a year on a $100,000 income.

That has boosted the economy short-term, says Chris Christopher, an economist at the IHS consulting firm. "It's helping absorb the cost of higher gas and food prices," he says.

Other findings:

•Taxes per person. Individuals paid taxes at an annual rate of $10,549 per person in the first quarter — about the same as individuals have paid since 1990 when adjusted for inflation. Incomes have grown; tax payments haven't.

•Spending per person. Government spent at an annual rate of $18,086 per person in the first quarter. That's up from $13,552 in 2001, adjusted for inflation. The difference between individual taxes and spending comes from corporate taxes, user fees and borrowing.

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Traffic fatalities fall to lowest level since 1949

Experts say changes in car design and campaigns to create better drivers contributed to the decline in traffic deaths. STORY HIGHLIGHTSExperts cite numerous factors in the dropEmphasis on distracted driving has helped, transportation secretary saysThe recession and high gas prices are also a factorAt the end of 2010, fatalities began to trend back up Washington (CNN) -- The number of traffic fatalities continued its welcomed downward trajectory last year, falling 3% to its lowest levels since 1949, and a 25 percent drop from 2005, according to U.S. Department of Transportation estimates released Friday.

Preliminary figures show that 32,788 people died in traffic accidents last year, down from the 33,808 killed the previous year and significantly below the 43,510 people killed only six years ago, according to the DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Experts attribute the change to a variety of reasons, including changes to cars -- such as vehicle rollover protection -- and programs to change driver behavior -- such as campaigns addressing drunk driving, distracted driving and seat belt use. Laws aimed at young people also likely have had an impact, notably older minimum drinking ages and graduated drivers' licenses.

"I think I'm going to take a little bit of credit here on our two years of really hammering on distracted driving," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "We're not where we want to be, but we know with good laws and good enforcement, people will put their cell phones down and their Blackberries."

He also gave credit to stricter enforcement of driving laws and drivers taking personal responsibility for their safety.

Traffic fatalities in the United States peaked in 1972, with 54,589 killed, according to the DOT. But the rise and decline of the grim number has numerous peaks and dips, influenced by direct changes such as the national speed limit and indirect causes such as recessions.

In recent history, the most notable change was a 9.7 percent plummet in deaths in 2008. In a report examining that drop, DOT officials gave credit to DOT safety programs, but also noted that the drop coincided with a recession in the economy. The recession, and high unemployment rates among the young workforce, probably had a big impact on travel among young drivers, and it probably accounts for a steep decline in fatalities involving younger people, the DOT said.

The 2010 drop is notable because the decline comes despite an increase in the number of miles driven.

But figures also suggest the downward trend may be at its end. DOT figures show that fatalities declined in the first quarter of the year (down 11.4 percent) and second quarter (down 5 percent) compared for the same quarters the previous year, but increased in the third and fourth quarters, up 1.6 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.

Terry Kline, a professor at the Traffic Safety Institute at Eastern Kentucky University, said so many factors influence crashes that its difficult to assign credit or blame.

"Each one wants to say, 'Yes, it's my program that did it,' but it's very hard to prove," Kline said.

A number of factors are "taking more 16 year olds off the road," which could be having a significant impact on the statistics, he said. In many states, young drivers can only drive with an adult in the car, he said. And the recession and the high cost of cars and gas also are keeping teen-agers from jumping in the driver's seat.

The lack of uniformed police reports makes it difficult to compile reliable statistics, Kline said.

Secretary LaHood said the up-tick in traffic deaths in late 2010 does not portend higher figures this year.

"Absolutely not," he said. "We can never sit back on our laurels. We can never take for granted that people have gotten the message, not when 30-thousand people have lost their lives. So we're going to continue our efforts."

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