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I really do not understand how creatures like humans who can understand and plan for things build cities in flood zones, wildfire zones, earthquake zones, below
by ck2 3y ago
I really do not understand how creatures like humans who can understand and plan for things build cities in flood zones, wildfire zones, earthquake zones, below sealevel, etc.
It's not like the death of the sun or heat death of universe where it's a billion years outside of your lifetime, it's going to happen in your lifetime.
The "oh well what can you do" response leads me to believe we aren't going to do a damn thing about runaway climate change.
- Loughla 3y agoIt's too abstract. Person is good at planning for abstract problems, because person controls their income, expenses, and priorities. People are terrible at planning for abstract problems because it's collective resources and collective solutions requiring agreement from multiple parties who, inherently, have different and often conflicting priorities. In other words, until the planet crashes and kills a vast, vast majority of us, we are going to carry on like we always have. It's depressing.
- atomicnumber3 3y agoSome humans do, at least. I've read about there being stones in lakes or rivers that basically say "btw if you see this stone, you're as fucked as we were in the year 300AD" or something. And in Japan there's those old stone marker monuments telling people not to build below them because of tsunamis or floods or something to that effect. But I mean I guess when it's as desirable property as the SF Bay Area, the fact that you lose the building on it every hundred years or so is a small price to pay?
- jimmcslim 3y agoThe “hunger stones” https://heritagetribune.eu/europe/morbid-medieval-messages-and-historic-artefacts-resurface-during-extreme-drought-in-europe https://heritagetribune.eu/europe/morbid-medieval-messages-a...
- pests 3y agoIt seems everyone in this thread is forgetting humans only live 100 years. If an event happens every 250 years on average - thats 10 generations of humans. There are stories told by old Indigenous peoples in Canada and the Western USA about the Cascadia Fault which will wreck the PNW west of Interstate 5, estimated to happen every 500 years, last happened in 1700s. But they are just that - vague stories. Who is listening to them? If 10 generations of a family can live in one spot for 250 years with no issues - it might be pretty hard to convince them they have to leave.
- mrexroad 3y agoIf you’re bored, checkout renderings/maps of California during the Great Flood of 1862! My favorite trivia about that event was that the native Americans warned the settlers and relocated their villages to the hills just prior to the atmospheric rivers. If memory serves, Meteorologists / Atmospheric Scientists didn’t even have a name for them until the 1990s. With the increasing frequency of “100 year storm”, “200 year fire”, “250 year flood” … it’s pretty unfortunate we’re so terrible at contextualizing event types that haven’t already directly impacted our own lives. Of course paranoia-prepping isn’t really useful, but it’s dumbfounding that preparation isn’t a given.
- pests 3y agoI'll check it out, thanks! It is pretty unfortunate, but I don't blame people. Imagine your grandfather telling you stories about his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather dealing with a great flood... they would just be legends.
- dylan604 3y ago>I really do not understand money money money, MONEY! seems pretty simple to me
- nostrademons 3y agoYour commute happens about 250 days every year. A big earthquake happens maybe once ever 30 years. Buying a house takes 30 years to pay off. There's a limited supply of land; if all the houses in safe zones are taken, it may be worth it to some people to roll the dice on a house with natural hazards that's cheaper yet still close to everything. They're optimizing for the common case.
- kstrauser 3y agoI’ve lived in blizzard territory and tornado alley. I have friends in hurricane zones. Parts of the US want to cook you alive. There’s nowhere in the country without something or another trying to kill you.
- nonrepeating 3y agoI’m always amused by Americans (and I am one) who think our weather is so great, when we actually have the worst overall weather on Earth.
- KerrAvon 3y agoThere are nice spots on the coasts.
- saagarjha 3y agoSome parts of the US have some of the nicest weather in the world. Say, Santa Barbara or San Diego.
- kstrauser 3y agoSan Francisco has a reputation for being cold. It’s just that we have the air conditioning running all the time. It’s basically sunny, low of 55°, high of 72°, year round. Twice a year it’ll get cold. A week a year it’ll get hot. It’s the best weather anywhere to show off your nice jacket.
- Aeolun 3y agoEven if it does happen in your lifetime. Do not underestimate the power of convenience. https://99percentinvisible.org/article/tsunami-stones-ancient-japanese-markers-warn-builders-high-water/ https://99percentinvisible.org/article/tsunami-stones-ancien...
- aifooh7Keew6xoo 3y agoWell, it usually beats homelessness or rent slavery.
- toast0 3y agoSome of those zones aren't static. Some of those zones are discovered after people have made a life there and getting people to leave an area where they've made a life is hard. If you live somewhere with strong earthquakes on a regular basis and enforcable building codes, chances are most of the buildings will withstand a pretty good earthquake, but a really big one will cause trouble. Areas without regular strong earthquakes are likely to be caught by surprise, although newer buildings are likely to do ok, if they enforce international standard building codes; IBC is good for reasonable earthquakes, but not for extreme earthquakes (earthquake prone areas have additional requirements). Areas without enforcable building codes unfortunately aren't going to be well prepared, it costs more to build buildings that won't fall over in a nearby 4.0, especially if they're taller than one story.