How Our Coastlines Will Change

How did Earth get its coastlines? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice explore prehistoric coastlines, the Ice Age, and why Florida is temporary. Why does the shape of the coastline change?

Learn about the continental shelf and how the Ice Age impacted the oceans. What did Earth’s coastlines look like during the Ice Age? Find out about the Bering Strait Land Bridge and how early humans may have used it to cross into the Americas. We discuss how civilization grew in stable climate and how that will change over time.

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About StarTalk:
Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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00:00 - Introduction: Coastlines
00:25 - What Do Coastlines Change?
1:43 - What is the Ice Age?
2:55 - The Bering Land Bridge
5:05 - Human Civilization v. The Climate
9:35 - Closing: Redrawing the Map

[StarTalk]

If you saw the first version of this upload, no you didn’t...

[jjsavior]

I don't get people who get on Chuck. He is consistently funny. Very respectful, and doesn't constantly interject in an annoying manner like other comedians they have worked with. Some of those guys are nonstop, and the scientist can barely get a word in. Chuck usually interjects with well placed, well-timed humor. But the best thing about Chuck is, there are moments, where he really shows his intelligence outside of his quick whit, and either says things or sums things up very well.Just had to say that after seeing people disrespect him in other videos.

[chelinaahrens]

I’m Alaska Native and I loved when you said waiting for white man to come discover us! 😂

[SheezyShef]

I love how Neil makes these topics fun and digestible... kudos Dr. Tyson and Lord Nice

[paragsj]

Chuck is the best comedians to appear on Startalk. He appropriates the amount of jokes to keep things interesting related to the topic and not make it about him. You’re the best Chuck 👍👍👍

[YaShaheed]

Hats off to Chuck. Quick-witted and very funny. Great chemistry between the pair of you.
From London 🇬🇧

[williamwilkins]

This is why I love you guys. Individually I knew all that but I've never really put it together in my head and really thought about it. Another great explainer!

[timstorey]

I too didn’t appreciate Chuck at first. But I didn’t realize he was a comedian and have come to enjoy his humor. Sometimes he also adds some clarity to the technical discussions. Chuck is a pretty smart guy and pretty entertaining as well. I think Chuck is a good counterbalance to Neil.

[invisibledimensions]

My late uncle worked for NOAA, he went out on Navy ships (as a civilian) and mapped the ocean floors.

[STDavis-emdf]

Chuck Plus an Inch is a standard unit of measurement, thank you.

[kryptoart]

I live 4 blocks from the ocean in Daytona Beach and have been here for 6 years now. When I moved here there was a very long sandy beach to cross before getting to the water. Now on most days there is no beach. The water goes all the way to the buildings retaining walls. All I'm gonna say is I'm happy I'm renting not owning.

[alainrouleau]

Just to add... It's not just the melting of sea ice or glaciers that's causing the rise in sea levels.

Something like 30% to 40% is caused by thermal expansion. As heat gets trapped, and the oceans warm up, the volume of water expands.

[samsonau]

I live close to the glaciers in the Canadian Rockies. We're supposed to have a few hundred years of ice pack to stock our water supplies at current melt levels (see Columbia Glacier...which I have seen retreating all my life during family visits since I was 3). The retreat of the glacier is pretty dramatic. But, there are still hundreds of meters of ice up high. When flying to the coast, you can still see lots of white (and clear cuts). I don't know how much water that would equate to if all melted into the ocean. To the south in Montana, the Grinnell Glacier was pretty famous when I was a kid and now it is completely gone.

The past few years have seen rainfall dwindle and we're expecting a crazy dry year. Farmers are bracing for drought. Our skies have turned red a few times with all the forest fires. Crossing my fingers for mother nature to be nice to us.

[valentinsantiago]

100% true. I have raised my kids in Florida and when they inherit my house I am going to instruct them to sell it and move north so they can give their kids a home. Thanks for informing others. Alot of people never believe me when I tell them these things.

[TheChromeRonin]

I live in Wellington, New Zealand, but my house is in the suburbs of the hills 138m above. Just a few meters of sea level rise would swamp our entire central city, and storm surge would take care of the rest. Im sure it's the same elsewhere. That's MILLIONS of people displaced in a couple of generations.

[Kalyse.]

I love Chuck. I’m always impressed because he keeps up with NDT without the pictures and diagrams. I’m dependent upon those. 😂😂

[MoreOnEVs]

I live in the house I grew up in North of Boston on the coast. My backyard never flooded when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s unless there was a massive storm. Now it juuuust peeks up the storm drain on an astronomical high tide, and floods 10-15 times per year with pretty run of the mill storms. Not a good trend and it’s really going to be a big economic problem, in addition to the ecological problem

[johnsheehan]

One thing you missed about Florida is saltwater intrusion into the local aquifers which has already occurred and will get worse by orders of magnitude because it's just a limestone island,

[angeloavanti]

Florida. Newly wed or nearly dead. I watched jetties, and beaches disappear in a matter of a decade. I've seen the ocean meet the lagoon during numerous storms in Florida. I've been an avid climate watcher and weather observer for many decades. It has been heart breaking. Move the museum now.

[kareno]

Great. Thirty some odd years ago I moved from north Jersey to Florida Always nice to see Neil and Chuck, they're a great team.