3 ms·

I may be biased because I live in the NL and I live slightly below sea level. But I would be more worried to live on the coast somewhere else that has no histor

I may be biased because I live in the NL and I live slightly below sea level. But I would be more worried to live on the coast somewhere else that has no history of dealing with these kinds of problems. In some sense The Netherlands is the only country on the planet to have the political structures in place to deal with rising sea waters. What do people think Florida is going to do? They're already losing their drinking water and they're still in denial. And it really is about having social and political structures in place to deal with problems of this magnitude. The engineering questions are largely understood. Build pumps, dikes and create flood plains. We shouldn't focus on the engineering problems. The problem is one of coordination and mass mobilization of political will, and that already exists here.

wainstead 7y ago
> What do people think Florida is going to do? They're already losing their drinking water and they're still in denial. > Build pumps, dikes and create flood plains. Just want to point out this approach won't work for Florida (and I'm not implying you said it would). The land in south Florida is porous limestone, and the water will just pass under any dykes you build.
- suby 7y ago
  Is there a solution that would work for Florida?
  - cwbrandsma 7y ago
    Evacuation...or build more homes on stilts. When does Florida become America's Venice?
    - hnarn 7y ago
      > When does Florida become America's Venice? Quite an amusing comparison considering that Venice is commonly seen as an international beacon of sophisticated culture and history, while Florida is... well. I'm not American so I'll leave the rest up to the reader.
      - yazan94 7y ago
        /r/FloridaMan is a pretty accurate depiction of how we view Florida. That and Disney World.
      - paulddraper 7y ago
        > Venice is commonly seen as an international beacon of sophisticated culture and history, while Florida is ...similar in that it is also a top tourist destination.
    - paulddraper 7y ago
      > or build more homes on stilts Indeed there are a number of houses that are built on stilts for flooding purposes. Nowadays that's very uncommon; housing developments often built up the ground enough to mitigate the equivalent flooding risk.
- rumanator 7y ago
  > Just want to point out this approach won't work for Florida (and I'm not implying you said it would). The land in south Florida is porous limestone, and the water will just pass under any dykes you build. Not a problem. Just drive a sheet pile curtain along the retaining wall to force the flow net through a long enough path that the resistance alone reduces the flow volume. This sort of stuff is covered in civil engineering degrees at graduate or even undergraduate level. Google for sheet pile flow net to get the idea. And by the way, while you claim that Florida is limestone, the Netherlands is just a big old alluvial plain comprised of loose sand.
vonmoltke 7y ago
> What do people think Florida is going to do? They're already losing their drinking water and they're still in denial. That has been going on for decades, and has more to do with the population load on the water supply draining the aquifers than it does climate change. The drinking water table is already below sea level. At worst, climate change is hastening the inevitable.
paulddraper 7y ago
> They're already losing their drinking water and they're still in denial. As a former Floridian, that's news to me. Any links? The groundwater is enough to get that I know a number of people who have their own wells. (That plus a generator is really nice post-hurricane.)
paulddraper 7y ago
> the only country on the planet to have the political structures in place New Orleans is largely below sea level. (Though maybe Katrina proves your point.)

wainstead 7y ago

> What do people think Florida is going to do? They're already losing their drinking water and they're still in denial. > Build pumps, dikes and create flood plains. Just want to point out this approach won't work for Florida (and I'm not implying you said it would). The land in south Florida is porous limestone, and the water will just pass under any dykes you build.

suby 7y ago
Is there a solution that would work for Florida?
- cwbrandsma 7y ago
  Evacuation...or build more homes on stilts. When does Florida become America's Venice?
  - hnarn 7y ago
    > When does Florida become America's Venice? Quite an amusing comparison considering that Venice is commonly seen as an international beacon of sophisticated culture and history, while Florida is... well. I'm not American so I'll leave the rest up to the reader.
    - yazan94 7y ago
      /r/FloridaMan is a pretty accurate depiction of how we view Florida. That and Disney World.
    - paulddraper 7y ago
      > Venice is commonly seen as an international beacon of sophisticated culture and history, while Florida is ...similar in that it is also a top tourist destination.
  - paulddraper 7y ago
    > or build more homes on stilts Indeed there are a number of houses that are built on stilts for flooding purposes. Nowadays that's very uncommon; housing developments often built up the ground enough to mitigate the equivalent flooding risk.
rumanator 7y ago
> Just want to point out this approach won't work for Florida (and I'm not implying you said it would). The land in south Florida is porous limestone, and the water will just pass under any dykes you build. Not a problem. Just drive a sheet pile curtain along the retaining wall to force the flow net through a long enough path that the resistance alone reduces the flow volume. This sort of stuff is covered in civil engineering degrees at graduate or even undergraduate level. Google for sheet pile flow net to get the idea. And by the way, while you claim that Florida is limestone, the Netherlands is just a big old alluvial plain comprised of loose sand.

vonmoltke 7y ago

> What do people think Florida is going to do? They're already losing their drinking water and they're still in denial. That has been going on for decades, and has more to do with the population load on the water supply draining the aquifers than it does climate change. The drinking water table is already below sea level. At worst, climate change is hastening the inevitable.

paulddraper 7y ago

> They're already losing their drinking water and they're still in denial. As a former Floridian, that's news to me. Any links? The groundwater is enough to get that I know a number of people who have their own wells. (That plus a generator is really nice post-hurricane.)

paulddraper 7y ago

> the only country on the planet to have the political structures in place New Orleans is largely below sea level. (Though maybe Katrina proves your point.)