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Ask HN: How will your society react when the ocean rises into houses?

8 points by andrewstuart 7y ago

And are there important ways to prepare for this, "ahead of the rush"? And finally, when do you personally think it's going to start happening in a dramatic way in your country?

noobermin 7y ago
Tbh, by that point, the reality of rising sea levels will probably be too much to ignore, not to mention a lot of those who believe otherwise will have been dead by then. The important way to prepare for it is to lobby lawmakers to change policy before it happens.
jppope 7y ago
I'm working ahead of the game in California... looking for property inland just a little bit ;) ... given the commitment the United States is making towards climate change, I should have a nice beach front house in 20-30 years. Now I haven't figured out how to keep it from being submerged passed 40 years from now, but at least those 10 years will be great!
dredmorbius 7y ago
Poorly. Consider the responses to the Camp Fire (40k displaced in a state with no housing slack), Sandy, Harvey, Florence, Katrina, Michael.
hackeraccount 7y ago
I'm imagining building lots of levees.
futureastronaut 7y ago
In places where sea walls aren't built, people will move uphill. You can prepare by purchasing currently undesirable properties that are at higher elevations in affected metro areas.
- andrewstuart 7y ago
  This paints a picture of people quietly lifting their furniture and goods, buying a house on a good hill in a good neighbourhood and moving there and life goes on pleasantly. How will society react as a whole? We're talking about multiple billions of real estate and infrastructure wiped out. Will it even be possible in a practical way for people to move uphill?
  - futureastronaut 7y ago
    It's not easy to lift furniture quietly, but yes, like any other move, because the flooding will be gradual. As far as how society reacts as a whole, look at how the Houston and Baton Rouge metro areas absorbed refugees of hurricane Katrina, a sudden event. I'm only speaking for my country as you asked. Things won't be so peachy in Bangladesh.
ar-jan 7y ago
I live in the Netherlands, where a significant area is below sea level. While the safety of your house is relevant, I think the bigger question is what would happen to the economy and infrastructure. That said, I think current alarmist predictions of rising sea levels are overblown, and the change for, say, the next 100 years will be manageable.
- GlobalChange 7y ago
  The Dutch are my "thermometer" for oceans rising, when they start buying real estate in Switzerland, then I'll worry. As for now, there's no evidence whatsoever of oceans rising or any change that could in any way be deemed as out of natural variations. Besides, if (and that's a really big if) oceans eventually start to rise, we'll be already facing problems way worse. People would already have been displaced by other reasons, so that's actually not very high on the worry list. It is worth to remind some climate hysterics that costal cities would have to eventually change anyway, erosion is constant, even earthquakes or the more slower tectonic movement would eventually alter coastlines and continents. Honestly, alien invasion comes way higher on my list than oceans rising…
gaspoweredcat 7y ago
it wont, the city i live in is actually pretty high above sea level, im unsure if its accurate but i once heard that if the ice caps were to melt it would be one of the largest cities still above sea level, so at least we have one positive point!
notus 7y ago
It's going to happen so slowly they won't need to react very quickly.

8 points by andrewstuart 7y ago

And are there important ways to prepare for this, "ahead of the rush"? And finally, when do you personally think it's going to start happening in a dramatic way in your country?

noobermin 7y ago

Tbh, by that point, the reality of rising sea levels will probably be too much to ignore, not to mention a lot of those who believe otherwise will have been dead by then. The important way to prepare for it is to lobby lawmakers to change policy before it happens.

jppope 7y ago

I'm working ahead of the game in California... looking for property inland just a little bit ;) ... given the commitment the United States is making towards climate change, I should have a nice beach front house in 20-30 years. Now I haven't figured out how to keep it from being submerged passed 40 years from now, but at least those 10 years will be great!

dredmorbius 7y ago

Poorly. Consider the responses to the Camp Fire (40k displaced in a state with no housing slack), Sandy, Harvey, Florence, Katrina, Michael.

hackeraccount 7y ago

I'm imagining building lots of levees.

futureastronaut 7y ago

In places where sea walls aren't built, people will move uphill. You can prepare by purchasing currently undesirable properties that are at higher elevations in affected metro areas.

andrewstuart 7y ago
This paints a picture of people quietly lifting their furniture and goods, buying a house on a good hill in a good neighbourhood and moving there and life goes on pleasantly. How will society react as a whole? We're talking about multiple billions of real estate and infrastructure wiped out. Will it even be possible in a practical way for people to move uphill?
- futureastronaut 7y ago
  It's not easy to lift furniture quietly, but yes, like any other move, because the flooding will be gradual. As far as how society reacts as a whole, look at how the Houston and Baton Rouge metro areas absorbed refugees of hurricane Katrina, a sudden event. I'm only speaking for my country as you asked. Things won't be so peachy in Bangladesh.

ar-jan 7y ago

I live in the Netherlands, where a significant area is below sea level. While the safety of your house is relevant, I think the bigger question is what would happen to the economy and infrastructure. That said, I think current alarmist predictions of rising sea levels are overblown, and the change for, say, the next 100 years will be manageable.

GlobalChange 7y ago
The Dutch are my "thermometer" for oceans rising, when they start buying real estate in Switzerland, then I'll worry. As for now, there's no evidence whatsoever of oceans rising or any change that could in any way be deemed as out of natural variations. Besides, if (and that's a really big if) oceans eventually start to rise, we'll be already facing problems way worse. People would already have been displaced by other reasons, so that's actually not very high on the worry list. It is worth to remind some climate hysterics that costal cities would have to eventually change anyway, erosion is constant, even earthquakes or the more slower tectonic movement would eventually alter coastlines and continents. Honestly, alien invasion comes way higher on my list than oceans rising…

gaspoweredcat 7y ago

it wont, the city i live in is actually pretty high above sea level, im unsure if its accurate but i once heard that if the ice caps were to melt it would be one of the largest cities still above sea level, so at least we have one positive point!

notus 7y ago

It's going to happen so slowly they won't need to react very quickly.