High Tide On Main Street: Rising Sea Level and the Coming Coastal Crisis

First published in 2012, High Tide on Main Street blazed a new trail in understanding the driving forces behind climate change and its most profound, unstoppable, and least-understood effect, Sea Level Rise (SLR).

In easy-to-understand language, oceanographer and explorer John Englander explains how SLR will become the most permanent effect of climate change. By focusing on sea level, he also provides excellent insights into greenhouse gas emissions - the forces that drive climate change.

One reviewer said: “the most understandable book on climate change I have read to date…”

While we are already feeling the effects of disastrous climate change in the form of forest fires, extreme weather, droughts, and floods – we are just beginning to feel the effects of SLR.

Sea level rise, unlike weather events, is permanent, and the science is clear. SLR is increasing faster than at any time in recorded history. And is increasing at an increasing rate. We could see several feet of SLR by 2050, and 5-10 feet (1.5 to 3m) by 2100.

The science is also clear that due to excess heat already stored in our oceans, the sea will continue to rise for hundreds and hundreds of years. Coastal property will go underwater. First, financially, and then, literally.

High Tide On Main Street not only explores the science, but also investigates the devastating economic impacts almost every industry will suffer.

But, far from being a “doom and gloom” vision of the future, Englander introduces five points of “intelligent adaptation”; in effect a blueprint for accepting what is to come and a comprehensive plan for dealing with the inevitable coastal crises.

John’s second book on the same topic, Moving to Higher Ground, Rising Sea Level and the Path Forward, will be published on April 6, 2021.

John Englander is an oceanographer and global ocean explorer with expeditions under the polar ice cap, deep dives in research submarines and visits to Greenland and Antarctica. His mission is to be a clear voice on our changing climate and oceans. Mr. Englander's broad marine science background coupled with majors in Geology and Economics allows him to see the big picture on climate and to look ahead to the large scale financial and societal impacts, particularly as they relate to sea level rise. For over 30 years, Englander has been a leader in both the private sector and the non-profit arena, serving as CEO for such noteworthy organizations as The Cousteau Society and The International SeaKeepers Society, and The Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO). He is now President of the International Sea Level Institute, working with businesses, government agencies, and communities to understand the financial risks as increasing severe storms and long term sea level rise challenge us to adapt to a shoreline that will move inland for centuries. Mr. Englander is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine, Engineering, Science and Technology, and The Explorers Club. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union and several other scientific societies. He blogs at johnenglander.net