Great article, Susan. It’s past time for anyone in coastal areas to stop believing their own BS and continue kicking the climate change induced flooding can down the road. They knew more than 50 years ago that this day was coming but they rationalized their way into a temporary patch mentality with a blind hope that things wouldn’t be as bad as the research said it would. Oops!
The Netherlands faced this same music in the early 1950’s. Delta Works, the solution developed between 1953 and 1958, was completed in 1998 (39 years of construction) and requires continual maintenance. The cost was about $5-8 billion (about $25 billion in current dollars) and was spread over decades but represented a heathy portion of their national GNP and GDP.
Had they waited, their country would be faced with the same issues as South Florida and all other low lying coastal areas in the country are today: massive unpredictable storms, flooding, no drainage, large numbers of injuries and deaths and massive, billions to trillions of dollars in property damage.
But, Netherlands isn’t America. Americans cannot agree on education or healthcare priorities; how could or even would they ever be able to agree on massive projects like flood protection?
At this point, most of these low lying communities appear to be at the point of no return: the cost may be prohibitive, there isn’t likely enough time to develop and construct solutions, and a hodgepodge of private, local, state and federal interests, regulations, laws, procedures and capability limitations stand in the way, including money. Will a majority of Americans be willing to foot the bill for the billions to trillions of costs involved in places they don’t live?
Tick tock… The AMOC flood and climate change wolf is knocking on America’s and the World’s doors and howling to be let in. This wolf simply doesn’t care what or even if anyone believes it’s real, or not, or what anyone’s political party believes in. It’s coming.
Great article, Susan. It’s past time for anyone in coastal areas to stop believing their own BS and continue kicking the climate change induced flooding can down the road. They knew more than 50 years ago that this day was coming but they rationalized their way into a temporary patch mentality with a blind hope that things wouldn’t be as bad as the research said it would. Oops!
The Netherlands faced this same music in the early 1950’s. Delta Works, the solution developed between 1953 and 1958, was completed in 1998 (39 years of construction) and requires continual maintenance. The cost was about $5-8 billion (about $25 billion in current dollars) and was spread over decades but represented a heathy portion of their national GNP and GDP.
Had they waited, their country would be faced with the same issues as South Florida and all other low lying coastal areas in the country are today: massive unpredictable storms, flooding, no drainage, large numbers of injuries and deaths and massive, billions to trillions of dollars in property damage.
But, Netherlands isn’t America. Americans cannot agree on education or healthcare priorities; how could or even would they ever be able to agree on massive projects like flood protection?
At this point, most of these low lying communities appear to be at the point of no return: the cost may be prohibitive, there isn’t likely enough time to develop and construct solutions, and a hodgepodge of private, local, state and federal interests, regulations, laws, procedures and capability limitations stand in the way, including money. Will a majority of Americans be willing to foot the bill for the billions to trillions of costs involved in places they don’t live?
Tick tock… The AMOC flood and climate change wolf is knocking on America’s and the World’s doors and howling to be let in. This wolf simply doesn’t care what or even if anyone believes it’s real, or not, or what anyone’s political party believes in. It’s coming.
I like your tone.
Another great article Susan