It Can't Happen Here
Those blithe spirits who are determined to keep their heads buried deep in the sand about global warming may one day find their heads deep under water as well.
AP today cited two reports on the very real danger global warming represents to citydwellers in the not-too-distant future.
Summing up the findings published in the scientific journal Environment and Urbanization, AP wrote:
In all, 634 million people live in the threatened coastal areas worldwide - defined as those lying at less than 33 feet above sea level...
More than 180 countries have populations in low-elevation coastal zones, and about 70 percent of those have urban areas of more than 5 million people that are under threat. Among them: Tokyo; New York; Mumbai, India; Shanghai, China; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Dhaka, Bangladesh.
And then there's the report to be published next week by the Intergovenrmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which will warn that:
By 2080, flooding from rising sea levels could affect 100 million people a year.
By 2090, megafloods that normally strike within North America once every 100 years "could occur as frequently as every 3-4 years."
Coastal cities Los Angeles and New York are at risk from both rising sea levels and violent storms.
According to the AP:
In February, the IPCC warned of sea-level rises of 7-23 inches by the end of the century due to global warming, making coastal populations vulnerable to flooding and more intense hurricanes and typhoons.
But the What-Me-Worry crowd would much rather make fun of Al Gore than take this stuff seriously. Besides, saving the planet means — you know — having to spend money.
Comments
More hysteria from the hysterical crowd.
The "studies" claim anyone living less than 33 feet above sea level is at risk. I guess that means these report writers expect the seas to rise 33 feet -- sometime in the next zillion years.
The AP article stated:
"The study gives no time frame for rising sea levels or the potential flooding in individual countries. It warns, however, the solution to the problem will not be cheap and may involve relocating many people and building protective engineering structures. And, it adds, nations should consider halting or reducing population growth in coastal areas."
The report urges nations to halt population growth in coastal areas. Yeah. Sure. That will happen. What lunacy!
However, your except states:
"In February, the IPCC warned of sea-level rises of 7-23 inches by the end of the century due to global warming..."
Worst case: less than a two-foot increase in the water depth! And it will take 93 more years to get there. Whew. I'm headin' for the hills. Pronto.
Your latest Update must have been posted as a joke.
Posted by: no_slappz | March 27, 2007 11:39 PM
n_s, you've really got to learn to read. The reports were talking about the increased danger from floods due to sea levels rising just a few inches, and from increasingly violent storms due to global warming.
So let's see, two scientific studies on the one hand, n_s' uninformed gibberish on the other. Who should I believe...
Posted by: abi | March 28, 2007 08:58 AM
abi, you wrote:
"n_s, you've really got to learn to read."
Please tell me what I missed? I really do want to know.
YOu wrote:
"The reports were talking about the increased danger from floods due to sea levels rising just a few inches..."
The AP article paraphrasing the reports makes NO SUCH CLAIM.
It does provide hysterical conjecture and offer ridiculous advice to governments and residents.
But based on the advice given -- move away from low-lying waterfronts -- the US should have abandonded New Orleans 200 years ago.
Meanwhile, central sections of the US -- Iowa, for instance -- have suffered devastating floods in the last 15 years. And they will again. If governments and citizens accepted the lunacy of the reports you believe foretell calamities of Biblical proportion, the US would abandon all major river regions; every Caribbean island would depopulate and no one would ever approach a beach.
By the way, Manhattan has expanded over the years. Many new acres of dry land were created when the World Trade Center was built. Dirt and rocks were pushed into the Hudson River. That land supports the World Financial Center and Battery Park City, where several huge mixed-use residential/office buildings are climbing, adding enough space to boost the downtown Manhattan population by at least 25%.
Builders and insurers aren't nuts. They're studying the threats and taking action. If insurers believed catastrophic disaster were only 50 years away, they would not insure the buildings and hence, builders could not finance their construction.
But people who know about risk disagree with those who are guessing about the weather 100 years hence.
You wrote:
"...and from increasingly violent storms due to global warming."
Now you're venturing into fantasy land. There is no basis for claiming global warming leads to increasingly violent storms. That is 100% conjecture coming from people who are peddling fear to attract attention.
Posted by: no_slappz | March 28, 2007 05:08 PM
n_s, you're trying my patience. You're not going to insist that black is white, and do so at great length, and continue posting here.
Posted by: abi | March 28, 2007 07:30 PM