Bill Cumming sent me a link to a New Scientist article, Sea level rise: It's worse than we thought
The last paragraph reads:
Besides inundation, higher seas raise the risk of severe storm surges and dangerous flooding. The entire Atlantic seaboard of North America, including New York, Boston and Washington DC, and the Gulf coast will become more vulnerable to hurricanes. Today's 100-year storm floods might occur as often as every four years - in which case it will make more sense to abandon devastated regions and towns than to keep rebuilding them.
Scientists are in agreement that climate change is underway. The cause will probably be debated long after portions of global land are underwater. As emergency managers we really don't care what is causing it. We deal with the consequences of events. If we can help prevent them we do, but primarily we are trying to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.
What troubles me is the lack of foresight to the future. The fact being that building on the coasts of the United States has increased after Hurricane Katrina. I recall a favorite quote of mine which goes something like, "The lessons of the past will continue to be repeated, until learned." Maybe it is our optimism that makes us a great nation, but it also dooms us to build where we should not build and live where disasters will eventually take their toll.
Preparing for sea rise is something that will take generations of effort. If nothing else, we should start by not paying people to rebuild in harms way--that of course would take political guts to do.
The lessons will continue!
Top
The last paragraph reads:
Besides inundation, higher seas raise the risk of severe storm surges and dangerous flooding. The entire Atlantic seaboard of North America, including New York, Boston and Washington DC, and the Gulf coast will become more vulnerable to hurricanes. Today's 100-year storm floods might occur as often as every four years - in which case it will make more sense to abandon devastated regions and towns than to keep rebuilding them.
Scientists are in agreement that climate change is underway. The cause will probably be debated long after portions of global land are underwater. As emergency managers we really don't care what is causing it. We deal with the consequences of events. If we can help prevent them we do, but primarily we are trying to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.
What troubles me is the lack of foresight to the future. The fact being that building on the coasts of the United States has increased after Hurricane Katrina. I recall a favorite quote of mine which goes something like, "The lessons of the past will continue to be repeated, until learned." Maybe it is our optimism that makes us a great nation, but it also dooms us to build where we should not build and live where disasters will eventually take their toll.
Preparing for sea rise is something that will take generations of effort. If nothing else, we should start by not paying people to rebuild in harms way--that of course would take political guts to do.
The lessons will continue!
