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At some point in our lifetime we are going to have to effectively abandon cities like Miami, and our politicians will still be in denial about climate change.
by jandrese 5y ago
At some point in our lifetime we are going to have to effectively abandon cities like Miami, and our politicians will still be in denial about climate change.
- _3u10 5y agoYeah, I don't know of any technology capable of holding back nearly a foot of water. Hopefully they figure it out before it's too late for Miami.
- ortusdux 5y agoThe technology exists, but it wouldn't help Miami. The city is built on porous limestone, so even encircling it with a 50' wall wouldn't do anything.
- zie 5y agoMaybe Miami will be the new Venice :)
- Day1 5y agoYou can find a below sea-level hole inland then redirect the water to it. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-scientist-explains-the-mystery-of-recent-sea-level-drop/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-scientist-expla...
- distrill 5y agoFWIW, I'm not sure if any main stream politicians are arguing today that there is no climate change. I could be wrong, but most of what I hear is a question of how much is human caused/accelerated, rather than whether it's happening at all. There are some obvious exceptions like people pandering with "record low today, how about that global warming libs", but as far as I can tell this isn't the official position of any political office.
- jandrese 5y agohttps://www.americanprogress.org/article/climate-deniers-117th-congress/ https://www.americanprogress.org/article/climate-deniers-117... Climate Change denial is alive and well in the US. In some areas it is considered a political liability to acknowledge climate change.
- cryptoz 5y ago"FWIW", the last president declared that climate change was a hoax invented by China to make the US weaker. I don't know about "official position of any political office" but "climate change is a hoax" (or similar) is a common position on one half of the US political divide.
- mmmpop 5y agoYou can say his name, it's not like we're going to cause him to appear if we say his name 3 times.
- mhh__ 5y agoYou do tend to get Downvoted when you say it. Depending on the thread I think it's either people annoyed that they're seeing his name at all, and people who don't like seeing their guy getting criticized, but either way the result is the same. HN does generally swing much righter than the rest of the internet, too.
- mmmpop 5y ago
- candiddevmike 5y agoAnd everyone who doesn't live near a coastal city is going to pay for the relocation of everyone who continues to live there despite recurring flooding and a bleak future outlook.
- Tuna-Fish 5y agoIt's entirely possible to wall off the sea and pump river water over it to keep cities dry. The Dutch have been doing it for centuries. All that is required is quite a bit of money and political will. I don't see Miami ever being abandoned, even if they have to float it.
- FuriouslyAdrift 5y agoAnything south of Orlando is basically drained swamp. The bedrock is eroding due to over development (which causes the land to sink) and salt water has encroached on the fresh water aquifer. Miami spent half a billion $ a few years ago on a pump project that is already being overwhelmed. I would be stunned if Miami survives as anything but a billionaires island 20 years from now.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- zipswitch 5y agoIt's not just will and money that are needed. You need competence, actual ability, as well. Otherwise you're just playing at being King Canute while someones get rich.
- Day1 5y agoPoor King Canute—still misunderstood. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Canute_and_the_tide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Canute_and_the_tide
- cool_dude85 5y agoMiami is built on limestone. The water comes right out of the ground.
- lkxijlewlf 5y agoIt isn't that they're in denial. They know full well what is happening. It is just that they are selfish. They're going to get theirs while there is still something to get in the hopes that they'll be able to weather this disaster until they are no more.
- ur-whale 5y agoAside from all the misery this will cause, it'll be interesting to see what happens to property rights once you coastal parcel gets submerged. Will you still own it? Will you be able to build some sort of platform above sea level with a house on it given that the submerged land was once yours? Will it eventually give rise to a "living on the sea" movement?
- jpindar 5y agoOr if you don't want to commit to building a pier or platform, could you moor a houseboat there? It's worth noting that flooding isn't an all or nothing thing. I live on the New England coast and my neighborhood occasionally floods during storms. This is a disaster for some houses, but only a temporary inconvenience for others which are build on a tall foundation and have a raised area for parking.