4 ms·

I didn't actually say it was likely, just more likely than a gradual upslope migration in advance of any danger, which seems contrary to all human social behavi

I didn't actually say it was likely, just more likely than a gradual upslope migration in advance of any danger, which seems contrary to all human social behavior that I've ever witnessed. When major storms come through and wreck places that are bound to be wrecked every time the water rises, the political drumbeat is to rebuild. To give up on those places would be to show weakness (See "Jersey Strong / Stronger than the Storm" slogan after Hurricane Sandy). If we could somehow build strong enough defenses to protect all the major coastal population centers from rising waters indefinitely, that would be great, though obviously very expensive. I'm doubtful though. Lots of money and effort was poured into protecting New Orleans, and, in the long run, it didn't work.

exporectomy 5y ago
So it really is that you believe people will make the wrong decisions in adapting to the change while you personally know what's right? It makes sense that the general population isn't as smart as you personally because any common ideas they hold are limited to those ideas that are acceptable to a wide range of people. But we do use experts to help make these kinds of decisions for us. It's not all direct democracy with people voting on individual engineering calculations instead of voting to hire an engineer. It my country, we had an earthquake a few years ago which slightly increased the flood risk of a suburb. Instead of building a wall, they forced everyone out and flattened the whole place. I think we're capable of writing off areas of land when they become too risky or expensive to keep using. There are actually some small towns which are expected to be killed off when the only road access to them is inevitably blocked by a major earthquake one-day because it may not be worth rebuilding the road.
- allturtles 5y ago
  It sounds like your country is smarter than mine: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/01/06/tide-high-wading-through-hurricane-harveys-damage-audio/ https://www.texastribune.org/2018/01/06/tide-high-wading-thr...
  - exporectomy 5y ago
    Oh yes, I heard about that. There will surely be mistakes but I don't see how it will be a general problem people will keep shooting themselves in the foot with an never learning from. How many times can you rebuild in the same spot before you realize you're wasting money?

exporectomy 5y ago

So it really is that you believe people will make the wrong decisions in adapting to the change while you personally know what's right? It makes sense that the general population isn't as smart as you personally because any common ideas they hold are limited to those ideas that are acceptable to a wide range of people. But we do use experts to help make these kinds of decisions for us. It's not all direct democracy with people voting on individual engineering calculations instead of voting to hire an engineer. It my country, we had an earthquake a few years ago which slightly increased the flood risk of a suburb. Instead of building a wall, they forced everyone out and flattened the whole place. I think we're capable of writing off areas of land when they become too risky or expensive to keep using. There are actually some small towns which are expected to be killed off when the only road access to them is inevitably blocked by a major earthquake one-day because it may not be worth rebuilding the road.

allturtles 5y ago
It sounds like your country is smarter than mine: https://www.texastribune.org/2018/01/06/tide-high-wading-through-hurricane-harveys-damage-audio/ https://www.texastribune.org/2018/01/06/tide-high-wading-thr...
- exporectomy 5y ago
  Oh yes, I heard about that. There will surely be mistakes but I don't see how it will be a general problem people will keep shooting themselves in the foot with an never learning from. How many times can you rebuild in the same spot before you realize you're wasting money?