bookmark_borderNew Jersey Properties at Risk to Flooding

Sea level rise is threatening the value of coastal real estate.

“Alarmingly, more than half of that (at-risk property) exposure is estimated to lie outside FEMA flood zones. That means those properties are at higher risk of being underinsured, and, therefore, the loans attached to them are at higher risk of impairment, with increased risk for the value of the related CMBS (securities).” —CFTC

“Fannie and Freddie carry about $5.6 trillion in assets, mainly home mortgages and related securities. Ultimately, taxpayers backstop the payments on loans under the agencies’ control, UCLA’s Yu explains. Their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, issued a request for information in January, in part to assess flood risks. The entities require flood insurance that might mitigate their losses only on properties inside FEMA’s poorly drawn flood zones. Coverage limits imposed by NFIP — $250,000 for the structure and $100,000 for personal property — mean many coastal homes that have coverage are grossly underinsured.” — UCLA / Is the $1 Trillion Coastal Housing Market a Future Financial Crisis?

More on Flood Insurance and Real Estate Risk

bookmark_borderRising Sea Level and Atlantic City

A study entitled Sea level rise and coastal flooding threaten affordable housing highlights the risk to Atlantic City.

In Atlantic City 52% of affordable housing will become uninhabitable due to coastal flooding by 2050.

“The point here is that two neighbors can suffer from the same flood, one living in affordable housing and one in a home they own, and experience a very different outcome,” says Benjamin Strauss, a co-author of the report and CEO and chief scientist at Climate Central. “Many more people in the general population will be affected by sea level rise than the affordable housing population. But the affordable population group is the one likely to hurt the most, who can’t afford to find a remedy on their own, and tend to not have the voice needed to change the allocation of public resources.”

About Flood Insurance

Atlantic City Going Under

Do I Need Flood Insurance?
Flood Risks Across the USA Seriously Underestimated
Climate Change: Suspension Of Belief
Climate Denial and Climate Change Change
Underwater: Sea Level Rise
Disaster on the Horizon: The Price Effect of Sea Level Rise
Climate Change And Credit
Real Estate and the Rising Sea Level

bookmark_borderOzone Alert 2018

Ozone air quality alerts plague the Philadelphia Region. One of the leading causes of bad air quality is Ground Level Ozone.

Low level ozone (tropospheric ozone) is highly volatile and is created in large part due to vehicle emissions. “Ground level ozone is a serious problem in cities with lots of traffic, such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston and New York City. In 2013, according to the American Lung Association, nearly four in 10 people in the United States (38 percent) lived in areas with unhealthful levels of ozone.” The use of ethanol in gasoline is causing a dramatic increase in low level ozone.

The harmful ozone is created when partially combusted fuel reacts with the temperature and ultraviolet light. May 2 is early in the season for an ozone alert.

View the current air quality for Philadelphia.

Ozone Air Quality Alert for Philadelphia Area
Ozone Air Quality Alert for Philadelphia Area

NOTE: Graphics are from the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency of the United States of America)

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that affects an estimated 16.4 million adults and 7.0 million children in the United States, regardless of age, sex, race, or ethnicity.(1) Although the exact cause of asthma is unknown and it cannot be cured, bad air quality is believed to be the main cause. In particular, low level ozone is causing an increase in asthma-like symptoms.(2) What many people believe are food allergies are just symptoms of respiratory and immune system damage caused by ozone.

Death By Ozone | The Ozone Know Zone

Ozone is not only killing humans, it is also killing the trees. The chain reaction is known as an adverse feedback loop.

Dying Trees, The Membrane Domain

  1. Tree Death Questions
  2. The Earth’s Status
  3. Answers About Ozone and Dying Trees
  4. Ozone Questions Part 4
  5. Ozone Answers Part 5