To the Point
Rising Seas Are Threatening America's Cities
Rising tides already threaten major cities and military bases around the country. Now it's predicted that sea levels will increase ten times faster than estimated before. Are public officials playing down the danger? Is there any way to prepare?
By Warren Olney • • 51m ListenRising tides already threaten major cities and military bases around the country. Now it's predicted that sea levels will increase ten times faster than estimated before. Are public officials playing down the danger? Is there any way to prepare?
Also, Puerto Rico's debt crisis deepens with a missed payment. On today's Talking Point, judges in Pennsylvania may soon be sentencing convicts not just for crimes they've committed…but for crimes they might commit in the future. Should "risk assessment" determine how long they go behind bars?
Photo: Significant flooding in New Orleans as a result of Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the city's flood protection systems (US Coast Guard, Petty Officer 2nd Class Kyle Niemi)
In this episode
3 storiesPuerto Rico's Debt Crisis Deepens with Missed Payment
Puerto Rico has "taken the first move to commit financial suicide." That's according to a credit analyst in Florida after Governor Alejandro García Padilla suspended deposits into a fund that pays general-obligation bonds. Michelle Kaske covers the Commonwealth for Bloomberg News .
Read the story7 minA Wake-Up Call for Slow Moving Disaster
Rising sea levels already cause flooding in many American cities. Increasingly high tides at coastal military bases pose a threat to national security. Now the timetable for disaster has been speeded up by a shocking prediction: sea ice will be melting ten times faster than previously estimated.
Read the story33 minPredicting the Future: Using Risk Assessment for Criminal Sentencing
It's often said that justice demands that the punishment fit the crime. Now judges in Pennsylvania may be passing sentence based on crimes that have not yet happened.
Read the story10 min
