King Tide Photo Initiative
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Participate!
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Click on an image to read more information about itKing Tides Slideshow, by LiveSmart BC and friends, on Flickr |
NEW: Canadian Geographic Article
Blog: King Tides Inspire Adaptation
Resource: Your King Tides
Information, Resources and Ideas for oraganising a King Tides campaign in your community. Click here to learn more!
- Introduction
- About King Tides
- King Tides - Dates, Times, Locations
- 2010/2011 photos
- 2009/2010 photos
- Other Jurisdictions
- Tutorial Videos
Introduction
The 2011/2012 winter season marks the third annual BC King Tide Photo Initiative. "King Tides" asks individuals to record the possible impacts of sea level rise by photographing high water level events in B.C.’s coastal areas.
To participate, we provide you with a chart of tidal schedules for the B.C. coastline and identify the King Tide days when we expect to see larger-than-normal water levels. (You can also cross reference this chart with daily forecasts from the federal storm surge model).
Next, participants take their photographs and upload them to their Flickr accounts, making sure to include appropriate metadata (geotags, date and timestamps...) and descriptions (location, event, direction/orientation...), etc. Finally, users "submit" these Flickr photos to our King Tides Photo Initiative group for approval. Once approved, the public can view your work on a map or in a slideshow of images from up and down the coast showing high water events.
The King Tide Photo Initiative is modelled after a similar project conducted by Australia’s Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water: A Snapshot of Future Sea Levels: Photographing the King Tide Event (PDF). The State of Washington’s Department of Ecology has also conducted similar documentation: Extreme High Tide Events.
About King Tides
King Tides (also known as perigean spring tides) are extreme high tide events that occur when the sun and moon’s gravitation forces reinforce one another at times of the year when the moon is closest to the earth. They happen twice a year, but they are typically more dramatic during the winter.
While tides are not affected by climate change, the climate and weather do influence coastal sea levels through storm surges, the ENSO and PDO cycles and other factors. Storms that occur during high tides can cause coastal flooding and erosion, a risk that will increase with sea level rise.
These King Tide occurrences offer us a chance to visualise what normal sea levels may look like in the future.
Global sea levels have risen approximately 20 cm since the industrial revolution. Even with immediate and dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise is expected to accelerate and to potentially continue for centuries. This is due to the warming caused by the greenhouse gasses already in the atmosphere.
Climate change is expected to result in sea level rise of approximately 1 metre by the year 2100 on the British Columbia coast. The amount of sea level rise that will occur at any location along the coast will depend on global sea level rise and local factors such as vertical land movement (including tectonic movements, rebound and subsidence). Sea level rise projections for BC are published in the report, Projected Sea Level Changes for British Columbia in the 21st Century.
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King Tides - Dates, Times and Locations
The chart below provides 2011/2012 dates and times for King Tide predictions across B.C. coastal communities:
The map below provides a sampling of King Tide photos from LiveSmart BC on Flickr:
(view interactive map in full-screen mode)
Point. Shoot. Upload. Tag.
Last year's King Tide Photo Initiative was held online for BC photographers on Flickr. Photographers could upload their King Tide photos to their Flickr photostream, then submit their photos to our "King Tide Photo Initiative" group on Flickr.
Information, including when and where to find King Tides, how to join the group and instructions on tagging photos is all described on the group page.
2009/2010 Flickr Photo Submissions
The pilot year of the initiative was originally featured online without the use of Flickr.
These images have since been added to Flickr:
Other Jurisdictions
Be sure to check out our North American partners-on-the-pacific King Tide groups on Flickr:
Tutorial Videos
The following set of Flickr Videos feature How-To instructions for Uploading photos, Adding GeoTags and Creative Commons Licensing, etc., and joining and submitting photos to the LiveSmart BC King Tide Group.
Press the HD and Full-Screen buttons at the base of the frame for better viewing.
If you prefer, we also have a "King Tides" YouTube Playlist, which features these tutorial videos.
For support using Mobile Devices, start by visiting http://www.flickr.com/mobile and downloading Flickr Apps: iOS, Android.
