Global warming real estate.

You’d expect the rising ocean levels to decimate coastlines, but the New York Times points out that melting glaciers are, rather surprisingly, raising land levels in some coastal areas:

The geology is complex, but it boils down to this: Relieved of billions of tons of glacial weight, the land has risen much as a cushion regains its shape after someone gets up from a couch. The land is ascending so fast that the rising seas — a ubiquitous byproduct of global warming — cannot keep pace. As a result, the relative sea level is falling, at a rate “among the highest ever recorded,” according to a 2007 report by a panel of experts convened by Mayor Bruce Botelho of Juneau.

Greenland and a few other places have experienced similar effects from widespread glacial melting that began more than 200 years ago, geologists say. But, they say, the effects are more noticeable in and near Juneau, where most glaciers are retreating 30 feet a year or more.

Soon, some near-Arctic islands will be connected to the mainland by land bridges. Maybe those of us closer to Miami and Manhattan really will be able to move north with the receding icecaps.

(Not that all of this land will be particularly healthy, mind you.)

Tags: climatology, geology