1. Venice, Italy.
2. Did you know in the mid 1800s Chicago was raised around 6 feet?
1. Lovely place, Ive been there.
You know, Venice didnt sink and then become an island city. It was built that way. It has been and still is sinking, and Venetians today are spending billions to delay the inevitable.
2. Raising 1850s Chicagos little wooden structures is a bit easier than lifting present day NYC skyscrapers.
Here is a present day example of American climate refugees:
Alaskan villages imperiled by global warming need resources to relocate
The Arctic is warming at a rate almost twice the global average, making climate changes effects there far more intense and rapid than any other ecosystem in the world. While nature photographs of polar bears and melting ice dominate media narratives, the top of the world is home to 4m people who face an uncertain future.
Coastal erosion, forest fires and storm surges are threatening the physical and economic safety of settlements across the Arctic Ocean shoreline. Further inland, thawing permafrost is compromising the stability of transportation, sanitation and public service infrastructure built upon once-sturdy foundations. In Alaska alone, 31 villages face imminent threat of destruction from erosion and flooding. Many of these villages have 10 to 20 years of livability before their streets, schools and homes become uninhabitable. At least 12 have decided to relocate in part or entirely to safer ground to avoid total collapse.
In early 2015, President Obama proposed $50.4m in federal spending to help Native American communities adapt public infrastructure to the effects of climate change. That is less than half of what the US Army Corps of Engineers estimates to be needed to relocate just one Alaskan town. Moving an entire community to a safer location mere miles away can cost anywhere from $80m to upwards of $250m.
That's a small Alaskan town. Now consider scaling those costs to a single city like Norfolk, Annapolis, Miami, New Orleans, etc.
You have a lot of faith that *insert magical future solution* will be easier and cheaper than just cutting fossil fuel emissions.
You know, Bart, you mostly present yourself as someone who is only interested in documented science. Your last sentence exposes a crack in the facade, though.
Sea level rise threatens entire nations. I am a national of the Netherlands and about half of our country is below sea level. Bangladesh and other low-lying countries are truly threatened. Then there are a number of island nations like
Kiribati or the
Marshall Islands (for which US taxpayers are responsible, btw) for which rising seas are literally an existential threat.
What happens when the sea swallows a country? What happens when a group of nationals no longer have a physical home? There is no precedent. Its going to be messy.
I assume you're around 30 years old. I hope you have a very long, fulfilling, and happy life. And when your clock is punched (around 110 years of age
), i assume you will reflect back on this current age and realize you got worked up over stuff that never happened.
Unfortunately I expect this will be a big sociopolitical issue for the rest of our lives. I assume youre an aging baby-boomer. For your sake, I sincerely hope you wont have to look back with shame upon a generation whose greed, arrogance, and selfishness wrecked the home of their children and future generations. I hope that our granddaughters wont have to ask us, How could you have been so irresponsible?
Anyone who witnesses 110 years of human history is bound to experience some ****ed up ****, though.
Until then, continue to fight the good fight. I'll join you in the crusade against litter, wasted resources, and good stewardship of our environment, too.
Thanks McDad, youre always welcome in my crusade. Even if it's just for the lulz
