lightblueline

Here is the opinion piece the Action sent to the Santa Barbara Independent... ironically, it was published on the day we withdrew our project from council consideration.

"S.B. Paints a Light Blue Line

Drawing the Line Against Human-Induced Climate Change

Published in the Independent: Thursday, August 23, 2007
by Marty Blum, Santa Barbara mayor; Helene Schneider and Brian Barnwell, members of the Santa Barbara City Council; David Lea, PhD, Department of Geological Sciences, UCSB; Jim Frew, PhD, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, UCSB; Susan Davidson, Santa Barbara Middle School teacher; Adrianne Davis, Santa Barbara resident; and Bruce Caron, PhD, executive director of the New Media Studio.

As the Light Blue Line public awareness art project looks ahead to painting a decorative line on city streets in October, the public deserves to know the facts about this project and why its message is so important to Santa Barbara residents.
Light Blue Line is drawing the seven-meter elevation contour on the streets of Santa Barbara. Seven meters is the amount of sea-level rise stored in the Greenland ice sheet and is emblematic of the scale of the potential effects of climate change. Coincidentally, the seven-meter number is close to the sea-level rise anticipated if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, also considered highly vulnerable, was to melt.
Seven meters is not a prediction of an actual future coastline occurring within our lifetimes; rather it symbolizes the climate we are leaving for our great-grandchildren if we do not act now to stop human-induced global warming. Scientists tell us we have a decade or less to change course and avoid a trajectory that leads to a climate state radically different from our present one, with a high potential for catastrophic loss of the polar ice sheets.
The Santa Barbara Light Blue Line public awareness art project will mark the seven-meter (23-foot) elevation on 68 city streets where this natural contour crosses the urban thoroughfare. The design of the line is highly decorative. It will be painted where it will not conflict with traffic markings. At an average of 17 linear feet per street, about 10 gallons of water-based paint will be used for the entire project. To link the line with the project’s educational programs, a four-inch-tall metal marker will be installed on the curb tops. This marker will provide the elevation information and a link to the project’s informational Web site: lbline.org. This temporary art project will not be maintained when the streets are resurfaced.
Light Blue Line is a joint effort of the City of Santa Barbara and the New Media Studio, a local nonprofit organization. All the costs, including the ongoing educational and outreach services, are covered through the community’s fundraising efforts.
This project also works with civic groups and schools to bring climate science findings into the classroom. Several outreach efforts have already started, including an art exhibit at Santa Barbara City Hall. At the private Santa Barbara Middle School, a group called Teen Press has interviewed professionals and people on the street to find out what they think about global warming and what they are doing about it. Teen Press covered events focused on global warming leading up to Earth Day, and continue to work on a documentary video. Preliminary outcomes are posted to the Teen Press Web site in the form of written stories and video interviews. Check out sbmsteenpress.org/0home.html.
Some complain that Light Blue Line does not articulate a solution. True enough. The sole purpose of Light Blue Line is to articulate the problem of climate change so that more people will seek out the available solutions proposed by many other groups. The project is based on climate change science. In the mainstream circles of climate and earth science, as exemplified by the recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) fourth assessment report, human-induced climate change is now a scientific fact. Human-produced greenhouse gas emissions are changing the climate. Governments around the planet and states and cities in the U.S. have listened to this message and are working to spread public awareness and support reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
One of the features of climate change is the average sea level down at our waterfront. The global climate models predict the greatest surface temperature increases will occur in the Polar Regions. This is where enormous ice sheets store many meters of potential sea-level rise. On the Greenland ice sheet, for example, seven meters of potential sea-level rise is today locked in thousands of feet of frozen ice. When the ice melts or slides into the sea, this water will raise the level of Earth’s oceans, pushing our waterfront well inland.
How much sea-level rise needs to occur before Santa Barbara starts to feel the effects? Very little. A rise of one meter or less in the coming decades is enough to wipe away much of our beaches, hasten the erosion of our cliffs, destroy freshwater coastal estuaries, infiltrate our coastal aquifers, impact our near-coast infrastructure (roads, airports, waste treatment facilities), and degrade property values and recreational opportunities across the city’s coastal region. The hard truth is Santa Barbara has a lot to lose from the effects of climate change in the near term and the longer term.
In the coming weeks, Light Blue Line will be holding volunteer meetings to prepare for the Draw the Line Against Climate Change day this October 6. Please join the more than 100 volunteers to date as we work together to keep the ocean down at the waterfront."