Swamp Eels and Piranhas

A "secret" report by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources speculates how the state would cope with a warming climate.

A draft of the committee's findings determined that if temperatures rise in the South by 9 degrees as projected by some over the next 70 years, South Carolina would see more beach flooding and invasion of non-native species such as piranha and Asian swamp eels, according to a draft of the report obtained by The State of Columbia.

One scientist involved in the initial work on the report for the Department of Natural Resources said there were political concerns whether readers of the report would accept that global warming was happening and was a danger.

"There were concerns about the political nature of it," Barry Beasley said.