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'Point of no return': New Orleans relocation must start now due to sea level
- bypdx 5mo agoRather than relocate, we can make discussion of climate change illegal or just tax the blue states to build a sea wall around the entire city
- TacticalCoder 5mo ago> Rather than relocate, we can make discussion of climate change illegal or just tax the blue states to build a sea wall around the entire city Like in The Netherlands? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Works
- kjellsbells 5mo agoThere's a museum in New Orleans that has a Katrina display and it turns out that they did indeed call in Dutch experts to advise them. The Dutch gave them sensible ideas like building low elevation parks that could flood without issue and hold lots of water, instead of concrete spillways and drainage that just moves water fast until it fails catastrophically when inundated. Louisiana being Louisiana, it was all ignored. The museum convinced me that New Orleans is doomed in so many ways. Everything from the Atchafalaya ORCS to the paving over of wetlands to build the city to the destruction of the Plaquemines marsh lands to the southeast of the city all seem to be maximally unhelpful for preventing storm damage.
- TitaRusell 5mo agoThe reality is that New Orleans is simply not important enough. Even the biggest ultra conservative GOP voting redneck will have to admit that America can't survive without NYC which is why it will get it's seawall.
- snowpid 5mo agoThis is very fascinating from a cultural viewpoint. Some cities in Europe are important just for the history and not economy like Venice, or lesser extent Rome. When the Russian attack started, people moaned about the old buildings and the culture in Kyiv. (Ofcourse the attack itself was inmoral). What I get is New Orleans has an unique culture and history. Most people in the US dont think it is worth to preserve?
- criddell 5mo agoMost people in the US think everybody should have access to basic healthcare but we haven't been able to make that happen. Something like saving New Orleans probably doesn't stand a chance.
- snowpid 5mo agoI mean this is a sign of the flawed political process. But even in a working democracy if people arent interested, politican mostly wont care. So Americans dont think New Orleans is worth to preserve?
- criddell 5mo agoI've been reading more about New Orleans situation this morning and my thinking is changing. It would be nice if we could preserve it, but I didn't really understand how bad the situation is. I don't think it's possible and spending should be focused on relocating people from the area. New Orleans is probably going to be a fairly small island 20 miles offshore that gets drowned by hurricanes every few years.
- sjs382 5mo agoWhen you look at who the rest of Louisiana voted for, they don't even want to preserve New Orleans. They're literally terrified of it and were elected on the promise to subjugate it. What they really want to preserve is stuff like this: https://www.youtube.com/live/mHljI5JbnTM?si=dReL9sZKiqtNlvpr&t=12774 https://www.youtube.com/live/mHljI5JbnTM?si=dReL9sZKiqtNlvpr...
- _doctor_love 5mo agoFor me it's similar to having red tests in my build - it causes me a lot of anxiety to see all the breakage. Plus it shows down shipping. So now I just delete them, feel better already.
- msla 5mo agoThere's precedent: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2140747-laws-of-mathematics-dont-apply-here-says-australian-pm/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2140747-laws-of-mathema... > “The laws of mathematics are very commendable, but the only law that applies in Australia is the law of Australia,” said Turnbull [the Prime Minster of Australia]
- tbrownaw 5mo agoWas he wrong? That sounds like it was about some sort of mandatory-mitm scheme or ban on e2e encryption. Like, yes, you can pretty easily make it impossible for the government to decrypt your bits, but the government can just as easily arrest you for it.
- ytoawwhra92 5mo agoHe was effectively saying this: https://xkcd.com/538/ https://xkcd.com/538/
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- greycol 5mo agoNo he was saying he doesn't care that creating a backdoor for encryption means anyone can use that backdoor and that you must both follow the law by being secure but also follow the law by being insecure. People arguing that that creating encryption that both did and didn't have a backdoor was impossible got that little gem in return.
- vintermann 5mo agoApropos that, I remember that James Lovelock said basically the same about Australia as this article says about New Orleans: living there is not sustainable, you should all leave.
- crystal_revenge 5mo ago> discussion of climate change illegal Well discussing it was de facto banned on HN for many years (still wouldn't be surprised if this post disappears soon). Any climate change post that was anything other than "everything is fine because of electric vehicles/solar/wind/etc", especially if it dare suggest that the situation was dire, would quickly get 'flagged' by the vocal minority (but still surprisingly large group of people) on HN who don't want to believe in climate change. Years ago, on different accounts, I would complain about HN's status-quo enforcing censorship logic, only to be boo'd away. This community is, at it's heart, one that has been a part of the process of encouraging climate change. I stopped complaining when I realized that nobody is seriously interested in tackling climate change (where you have to keep fossil fuels in the ground), so we're going to experience the full consequences of it (and yes, it does pose an existential risk). The annoying part is that people will continue to deny anything is happening no matter how aggressively visible real the impacts are. At this point there really is no reason to discuss climate change any more, most people really can't deal with the reality of what it represents (even people who think they are 'green').
- otterley 5mo agoDiscussing climate change has never been banned; this sort of claim is easily disproved by even the most cursory of searches in the box below. Try it. Here, I’ll say it right now: climate change is real, it has deleterious effects on our world, and we should take collective action to mitigate or even reverse it. Now, there’s an expectation that commenters conduct themselves appropriately and contribute to the overall well being of this site. If a person misbehaves when discussing this or any topic, that’s when they get spanked.
- nielsbot 5mo ago> de facto banned seems a little strong, but I understand why they say this > climate change is real, it has deleterious effects on our world, and we should take collective action to mitigate or even reverse it. plenty of comments on HN to this day will disagree, saying climate change is some anti-progress conspiracy or hasn't been studied enough or won't be that bad, etc etc.
- beAbU 5mo agoAnd we can make the sea pay for it!!
- dmm 5mo ago""" “New Orleans is not going to disappear in 10 years or anything like that, but policymakers really should’ve thought about a relocation plan a century ago,” said Dixon """ People have seen this coming for a long time. Here's a classic article about the channelization of the Mississippi by John McPhee from 1987: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20636254 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20636254
- comrade1234 5mo agoI would be surprised if the USA is even able to plan far enough ahead to put in a sea barrier/gates in time to protect New York City, similar to London. New Orleans? At least the old town is elevated.
- FireBeyond 5mo agoExactly, we haven't even bothered or cared to rebuild much of Katrina's damage.
- dmm 5mo agoNot even old town is safe. “Even if you stopped climate change today, New Orleans’s days are still numbered,” he added. “It will be surrounded by open water, and you can’t keep an island situated below sea level afloat. There’s no amount of money that can do that.”
- Kim_Bruning 5mo agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polder Type 1 is often an island situated below sea level. For instance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flevopolder https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flevopolder . Island. Surrounded by open water because that's actually a good idea. Below sea level. 400 000 inhabitants. 2 cities, major agriculture, minor airport. Ever wanted to grab dinner on the sea floor? Visit Almere Center. Though lots of people find it to be a bit boring in person. Want the same sort of thing in the US? Consider dropping the Jones act. Right now it's illegal to bring the equipment that builds these things into the US.
- HWR_14 5mo agoThe Jones act doesn't prohibit anything about bringing ships into the US to construct things. The closest reason I can think of you thinking that is it allows injured sailors to sue for damages. Maybe that equipment leads to a huge number of injuries?
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- ortusdux 5mo agoMiami too. The city is build on porous limestone. No amount of levees, seawalls, or dams will save it.
- trunkiedozer 5mo agoYet those in the know keep building there. Weird isn’t it?
- mattnewton 5mo agoThey are betting they can sell the bag before the music stops.
- estearum 5mo agoUhh... "those in the know" are the actuaries and if you were to take away the subsidies provided for homeowners and developers to deny basic mathematical facts, the entire area would be totally unbuildable already.
- incompatible 5mo agoThey can still get insurance for flooding?
- estearum 5mo agoYes with the help of US taxpayers. https://www.floodsmart.gov/ https://www.floodsmart.gov/
- incompatible 5mo agoFunny, I thought the USA was paranoid about this kind of socialism. I guess they are on the hook for some big and inevitable payouts.
- estearum 5mo ago
- madrox 5mo agoMy roots are in Louisiana, and this makes me incredibly sad. It is such a unique place that has no like, and drives all tourism in the state. Where will tourists celebrate Mardi Gras after it's gone? Baton Rouge? Sadder, still, to know that nothing will be done. No one will be relocated. Just one day a weather event like a hurricane will happen to destroy the area and it will be labeled derelict with no funds to rebuild. People will be left to fend for themselves.
- fsckboy 5mo ago[flagged]
- danaris 5mo agoNo, you are condescendingly proposing individual solutions to a systemic problem.
- 2ndorderthought 5mo agoHave you seen housing prices lately? It's insane for the average person especially if no one will be buying your home and you still have a mortagage
- fsckboy 5mo agoso, you're talking not about renters but about homeowners, and you're saying housing prices are up everywhere else except they are down in New Orleans? I'm not from NOLA so I'm not going to bone up on prices, but I do doubt what you are saying holds water.
- Rebelgecko 5mo agowhy would someone buy buy a house if they think it's literally going to be underwater soon?
- 2ndorderthought 5mo ago
- trunkiedozer 5mo agoIt’s already below sea level isn’t it?
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- aaron695 5mo ago[dead]
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- taejavu 5mo agoWeren't the Maldives supposed to be underwater like 15 years ago? Seems like the sea is rising much slower than models predicted?
- outside1234 5mo agoSeas are rising faster than climate models predicted: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10196-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10196-1
- benchwright 5mo agoalmost like NOAA, had it not been savaged by this current anti-science admin, would be able to lend further credibility here. As it stands, several researchers that I know of, formerly of NOAA, were banging this drum loudly for decades.
- brookst 5mo agoNo models predicted that. Plenty of info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_the_Maldives https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_change_in_the_Maldives Of note, most of the country no longer has fresh groundwater, and 50% of the national budget goes to climate mitigation.
- selimthegrim 5mo agoOne of the authors warned me this paper was coming (I live in New Orleans) but he assured me he still has a house with a mortgage here. As the article says, none of us will be alive to see it.
- pjdkoch 5mo agoFinally, Ben Shapiro is going to buy that real estate for a bargain! /s
- platevoltage 5mo agoI was looking for this comment.
- 0xDEAFBEAD 5mo agoAccording to Wikipedia, tourism makes up of 40% of the tax revenue in New Orleans. That could grow even higher if they think of an interesting and unusual solution for sea level rise. How about a floating city of some kind? Alternatively, go in the other direction and rebuild the city underwater.
- glass1122 5mo ago[dead]
- ArchieScrivener 5mo agoI say we wait until 2098 to start relocating so that way we can make a summer tent pole about it and pat ourselves on the back for coming together in the nick of time.
- selimthegrim 5mo agoIf you employ all the unemployed film people here it's a deal.
- onetokeoverthe 5mo ago[dead]
- adi_kurian 5mo agoNew Orleans no longer, would be a fucking tragedy. "America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland"
- misiti3780 5mo agoMiami is not Cleveland, and SF sucks.
- adi_kurian 5mo agoAgreed. Miami is in Florida.
- misiti3780 5mo agostick to software, you have no career in comedy.
- adi_kurian 5mo agoThat's a bit harsh mate.
- alexilliamson 5mo agoPerhaps you misundestand the Tennessee Williams quote. He's not saying that Miami is literally in Ohio, just that is has no character.
- misiti3780 5mo agoit has more character that SF
- johnea 5mo agoI'm almost surprised to see these comments unflagged 8-/ What a disaster in progress in Louisiana. > Since the 1930s, Louisiana has lost 2,000 sq miles of land to coastal erosion, equivalent to the size of Delaware, Having been born and raised in the mid-atlantic, I empathize. If the article is read, while replacing every instance of the word "could", with the words "will not", I think it also states a pretty factual assessment of what will happen...
- JojoFatsani 5mo agoNOLA is worth saving.
- selimthegrim 5mo agoYou and I and egypturnash know this but good luck with the rest of this crowd.
- sjs382 5mo agoThe energy, the community, the corruption, the vibrance, the hopelessness, the resilience, the city that care forgot. You can't relocate New Orleans. I know it's "gatekeeping" but it's so difficult to talk about with those who haven't had their every day consumed by it.
- mplanchard 5mo agoMost of my family is there, and I spent much of my childhood there. I have the same feeling as you. It’s such a beautiful, unique place, and I don’t think the locals will ever abandon it. City park with those beautiful oak trees will always be one of my favorite places on earth.
- endofreach 5mo agoThe graham hancocks of the future are gonna go nuts finding out about this mythical new orleans
- snthpy 5mo agoA bit OT but what about the Netherlands?
- kungpao42 5mo agoWould any of the technology that the dutch have surrounding water control help here? Or is the geography just too complex for it to work?
- tim333 5mo agoI'm not sure on the math on this one. Google says: >Global sea levels are currently rising at an accelerating rate, measuring roughly 3.6–4.6 mm per year so in say 30 years time at the higher figure you have 30*4.6mm = 13.8 cm The sea is broadly at sea level so it's going to be a job to get the "3-7 metres of sea-level rise"?
- selimthegrim 5mo agoWhen ice melts in Greenland and Antarctica there is also a gravity effect