5 ms·

The Shocking Doomsday Maps of the World and the Billionaire Escape Plans

18 points by Mz 9y ago

marmaduke 9y ago
Wouldn't boat building and floating agriculture be a trend in these scenarios?
anigbrowl 9y ago
Wild and absurd as these doomsday predictions sound, land ownership and the acquisition patterns thereof is a matter of record and may thus be judged as actions rather than words. What good explanations are there for billionaires acquiring such vast acreages as personal property rather than for commercial exploitation purposes? Insofar as such strategies do represent an attempt to commandeer the lifeboats, to what extent are others bound to respect their rights therein?
- kilroy123 9y ago
  It is also likely a tax thing. It's very common for the rich to buy wilderness land in exchange for lowering taxes. The rule is basically, you own the land but you can't do any development on it. https://www.landtrustalliance.org/news/syndication-conservation-easement-tax-deductions https://www.landtrustalliance.org/news/syndication-conservat...
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    Best answer, thanks
- crowbahr 9y ago
  The justification is diversification of investments. Land is always a good investment because there is never any more of it being created on a human timescale. You can argue about the micro islands in Abu Dhabi made from dredging but still the point stands. The British monarchy maintains its existence through enormous land ownership as well as their financial investments. Land prices basically can only go up over time as long as population does the same. And if you already have a few million in oil and a few million in high risk stocks you might as well put a few million into Montanan pastures.
- sevensor 9y ago
  In a doomsday scenario, it seems pretty certain that those best equipped to use force to take and defend territory are those who will be able to keep it. Maybe that's a billionaire, and maybe it's not. That's the extent to which others will respect their rights, taking the total collapse of civilized society as a starting point. I don't fancy the law of the jungle, so I'm hoping that doesn't come to pass and the billionaires can keep their holdouts.
a3n 9y ago
> All post polar shift predictions are based on theories from Gordon-Michael Scallion, Edgar Cayce and others, and should not be construed as fact. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Changes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Changes
- bonzini 9y ago
  Is "collapsing of the tectonic plate" underneath Europe a thing at all? Even if all permanent ice melted in the Arctic and on all mountain tops, seas would "only" raise by about 200 feet, if I remember correctly. That's certainly not enough to submerge Europe like that.
  - dogma1138 9y ago
    It kinda will https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_elevation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average... Some countries in Europe like Denmark and the Netherlands will not exist after a 200ft rise in sea level.
    - bonzini 9y ago
      The highest point in the Netherlands and Denmark is respectively 1060 and 560 feet, but yeah 200 feet would be terrible.
      - dogma1138 9y ago
        So they'll have 3-4 hills left standing. I think about every European capital is (way) below 200m of elevation, so are most of the major cities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_elevation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_elevation Looks like outside of Warsaw and Athens European capitals would become the shooting site for the bob sponge squarepants life action franchise if the sea levels rise by anywhere close to 200ft. Water would seek the lowest point, even if you have natural barriers, with a groundwater table of that height would find a way in, in Miami you already have sea water coming out of the pavement because the water table has risen to above street level of many places. This is effectively what already is happening in the Netherlands (nothing to do with global warming specifically since it's been the case since the ice age, but rising sea levels aren't making it any better) where the water table is higher than the elevation of many regions and you have to pump out the water back into the ocean constantly.
iambateman 9y ago
This Scallion character is described as a "spiritual visionary." Which is fine but I'm not sure I want my metaphysics guru drawing maps of coastline shifts in a Forbes article. Also, billionaire land purchases probably have more to do with the human desire to dominate than with a doomsday scenario. E.g. If financial markets and land rights go down the tubes, I'm not sure what 200,000 acres in Montana is going to do.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  Dominate what, though? Presumably if society collapsed they hope to be able to defend and exploit such land by the traditional feudal methods.
  - Finnucane 9y ago
    Really. If you anticipate that central government and most societal structures collapse, then your money and deeds to the land become worthless. Billionaires would be holding billions of nothings. Which means they need to be going full prepper and stockpiling stuff that can be used to influence people to work for them.
  - iambateman 9y ago
    1. This conversation is exceedingly conjectural. Fun, too. 2A. Mob bosses & gang leaders would be better positioned to take control from a supply chain perspective. They could offer safety and resources in exchange for power, loyalty and rents. 2B. As another commenter pointed out, a billionaire in the middle of a frozen financial system isn't much better off than an average joe. In a rapid destabilization scenario, wouldn't go to Montana...they would go to Hong Kong. 3. Ok, I need to get back to reality.
hn_throwaway_99 9y ago
> Africa will ultimately be divided into three parts. The Nile will widen significantly. A brand new waterway will split the entire country, from the Mediterranean Sea towards Gabon. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was a typo, but referring to Africa as a country is sad.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
Animats 9y ago
About the author: "I am highly experienced in exotic travel and extreme luxury adventures." The real story here is, why are those billionaires buying all that land in isolated areas? Even YC's Sam Altman says he has an escape plan to some place in Big Sur. Malone, the retired cable guy biggest landowner, is into ranching, so he's at least using the land in Colorado.
hprotagonist 9y ago
nah. a large unknown force will blow the moon into seven chunks, and Neil de Grasse Tyson will lead us into space, Elon Musk will harness a comet and die of radiation exposure. better bone up on my morse code.
- sbierwagen 9y ago
  The billionaire space guy in Seveneves was actually supposed to be Jeff Bezos. (Neal has worked for Blue Origin in the past)
valuearb 9y ago
Those maps are so bat-shit crazy that they are awesome.
- dnautics 9y ago
  They're definitely optimized for drama. The new water areas are pretty much selected based on population and not much else.
Pinckney 9y ago
These maps literally show Atlantis resurfacing out of the middle of the Atlantic ocean.
- steanne 9y ago
  joke's on them, they'll be surfacing into the north atlantic garbage patch.
polotics 9y ago
Wow my opinion of Forbes just dropped a few notches. On the side of one map there is even "Atlantis". Seriously?

18 points by Mz 9y ago

Wouldn't boat building and floating agriculture be a trend in these scenarios?

Wild and absurd as these doomsday predictions sound, land ownership and the acquisition patterns thereof is a matter of record and may thus be judged as actions rather than words. What good explanations are there for billionaires acquiring such vast acreages as personal property rather than for commercial exploitation purposes? Insofar as such strategies do represent an attempt to commandeer the lifeboats, to what extent are others bound to respect their rights therein?

kilroy123 9y ago
It is also likely a tax thing. It's very common for the rich to buy wilderness land in exchange for lowering taxes. The rule is basically, you own the land but you can't do any development on it. https://www.landtrustalliance.org/news/syndication-conservation-easement-tax-deductions https://www.landtrustalliance.org/news/syndication-conservat...
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  Best answer, thanks
crowbahr 9y ago
The justification is diversification of investments. Land is always a good investment because there is never any more of it being created on a human timescale. You can argue about the micro islands in Abu Dhabi made from dredging but still the point stands. The British monarchy maintains its existence through enormous land ownership as well as their financial investments. Land prices basically can only go up over time as long as population does the same. And if you already have a few million in oil and a few million in high risk stocks you might as well put a few million into Montanan pastures.
sevensor 9y ago
In a doomsday scenario, it seems pretty certain that those best equipped to use force to take and defend territory are those who will be able to keep it. Maybe that's a billionaire, and maybe it's not. That's the extent to which others will respect their rights, taking the total collapse of civilized society as a starting point. I don't fancy the law of the jungle, so I'm hoping that doesn't come to pass and the billionaires can keep their holdouts.

a3n 9y ago

> All post polar shift predictions are based on theories from Gordon-Michael Scallion, Edgar Cayce and others, and should not be construed as fact. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Changes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Changes

bonzini 9y ago
Is "collapsing of the tectonic plate" underneath Europe a thing at all? Even if all permanent ice melted in the Arctic and on all mountain tops, seas would "only" raise by about 200 feet, if I remember correctly. That's certainly not enough to submerge Europe like that.
- dogma1138 9y ago
  It kinda will https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_elevation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average... Some countries in Europe like Denmark and the Netherlands will not exist after a 200ft rise in sea level.
  - bonzini 9y ago
    The highest point in the Netherlands and Denmark is respectively 1060 and 560 feet, but yeah 200 feet would be terrible.
    - dogma1138 9y ago
      So they'll have 3-4 hills left standing. I think about every European capital is (way) below 200m of elevation, so are most of the major cities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_elevation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_elevation Looks like outside of Warsaw and Athens European capitals would become the shooting site for the bob sponge squarepants life action franchise if the sea levels rise by anywhere close to 200ft. Water would seek the lowest point, even if you have natural barriers, with a groundwater table of that height would find a way in, in Miami you already have sea water coming out of the pavement because the water table has risen to above street level of many places. This is effectively what already is happening in the Netherlands (nothing to do with global warming specifically since it's been the case since the ice age, but rising sea levels aren't making it any better) where the water table is higher than the elevation of many regions and you have to pump out the water back into the ocean constantly.

iambateman 9y ago

This Scallion character is described as a "spiritual visionary." Which is fine but I'm not sure I want my metaphysics guru drawing maps of coastline shifts in a Forbes article. Also, billionaire land purchases probably have more to do with the human desire to dominate than with a doomsday scenario. E.g. If financial markets and land rights go down the tubes, I'm not sure what 200,000 acres in Montana is going to do.

anigbrowl 9y ago
Dominate what, though? Presumably if society collapsed they hope to be able to defend and exploit such land by the traditional feudal methods.
- Finnucane 9y ago
  Really. If you anticipate that central government and most societal structures collapse, then your money and deeds to the land become worthless. Billionaires would be holding billions of nothings. Which means they need to be going full prepper and stockpiling stuff that can be used to influence people to work for them.
- iambateman 9y ago
  1. This conversation is exceedingly conjectural. Fun, too. 2A. Mob bosses & gang leaders would be better positioned to take control from a supply chain perspective. They could offer safety and resources in exchange for power, loyalty and rents. 2B. As another commenter pointed out, a billionaire in the middle of a frozen financial system isn't much better off than an average joe. In a rapid destabilization scenario, wouldn't go to Montana...they would go to Hong Kong. 3. Ok, I need to get back to reality.

hn_throwaway_99 9y ago

> Africa will ultimately be divided into three parts. The Nile will widen significantly. A brand new waterway will split the entire country, from the Mediterranean Sea towards Gabon. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it was a typo, but referring to Africa as a country is sad.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

Animats 9y ago

About the author: "I am highly experienced in exotic travel and extreme luxury adventures." The real story here is, why are those billionaires buying all that land in isolated areas? Even YC's Sam Altman says he has an escape plan to some place in Big Sur. Malone, the retired cable guy biggest landowner, is into ranching, so he's at least using the land in Colorado.

hprotagonist 9y ago

nah. a large unknown force will blow the moon into seven chunks, and Neil de Grasse Tyson will lead us into space, Elon Musk will harness a comet and die of radiation exposure. better bone up on my morse code.

sbierwagen 9y ago
The billionaire space guy in Seveneves was actually supposed to be Jeff Bezos. (Neal has worked for Blue Origin in the past)

valuearb 9y ago

Those maps are so bat-shit crazy that they are awesome.

dnautics 9y ago
They're definitely optimized for drama. The new water areas are pretty much selected based on population and not much else.

Pinckney 9y ago

These maps literally show Atlantis resurfacing out of the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

steanne 9y ago
joke's on them, they'll be surfacing into the north atlantic garbage patch.

polotics 9y ago

Wow my opinion of Forbes just dropped a few notches. On the side of one map there is even "Atlantis". Seriously?