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Sea Rise Could Force Millions In Florida To Adapt Or Flee (miamiherald.com)

mdsolar writes: For the first time, a team of researchers looked at ongoing population growth in areas where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has created flood maps that more accurately reflect local conditions. What they found was startling: projections that failed to factor in population growth in dense states like Florida hugely underestimated the number of people at risk and the cost of protecting them. Combined with the findings from a 2015 report, that means Florida can claim two titles: most property at risk, and now, most people.

8 of 421 comments (clear)

  1. More global warming lies from slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    a staple over the years

  2. Re:Let's all start running now! by NoOneInParticular · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Dutch claimed land from lakes and swamp. That land is often below the level of the rivers and water does bubble up. An intricate system of small waterways to collect this water is used. The Dutch have been pumping out water continuously since the 11th century. If they stop pumping, the land disappears.

  3. Re:Let's all start running now! by jiriw · · Score: 5, Informative

    We do get a couple of violent storms each year (in the 10 beaufort region), Hurricanes (12 beaufort), probably not... For the Netherlands such violent storms are more like a once in couple of decades event. In the '90's there was a severe storm travelling through North-West Europe with an hourly average wind force of 11 beaufort in the Netherlands and dozens of fatalities in at least 5 different countries.

    Although our storms may not be as violent as the hurricanes of the American South-east, there is a trough-shape in the North Sea due to the British isles at our West, which ads extra height to the local sea-level when wind is blowing from the North. That effect is one you won't have at the Florida coast. Sea water can be diverted in enough directions there, but force of the waves may be larger with more violent storms... so you maybe need tougher (thick-skinned, so to speak... more use of rocks to break the waves instead of sand dunes and earthen dikes?) dikes instead of higher ones. However, I think the hurricanes you have should not be a hindrance to implement proper water works in your country if you really want to defend the coastal lands from future flooding. There, however, is a totally different price to pay. A dyke between beach property and the proper beach makes the property a lot less ... beachy.

    In combination with spring-tide, the elevated sea level due to the trough shape of the North Sea, caused the 1953 sea-side flood which flooded major parts of the Netherlands and killed over 1800 people in the Netherlands alone. The sea level rose 4,5 meters (15 feet) above normal. That last major flood in Dutch history was the reason we implemented our major water works, the Delta works, which have kept us safe since then. The 2006 'flood', which caused a rise in sea level of 4,8 meter (16 feet) didn't cause any flooding in the Netherlands. And all water works functioned within proper specifications.

    A once in a couple of decades event, like the 2006, 1990 and 1953 storms is something which is fully calculate into the structural specifications of our water works. The Delta works, reduced the risk from large-scale sea-side flooding from once in 80 years to once in 4 millennia. We also recently (a decade ago) strengthened the river dykes to prevent flooding by higher river water levels. Global warming means more water ice from glaciers is melting and more evaporation above land and sea -> more rain inland, adding to the usual run-off, causing higher peak-water levels. This caused some inconviniences in the '00's... Previous predictions were too conservative and we acted accordingly. The largest river of North-West Europe, the Rhine flows right through our country... If a storm crosses Germany, we see the result in rising water levels a couple of days later. But also the Meuse, which also flows through the Netherlands and which is a rain-fed river, mostly, can put up quite an act.

    And temperatures have been rising, storms are become more violent on average. In 2013 we had a weather pattern which could, for the first time in history, be described as a super-cell, with two accompanying tornadoes.

  4. Florida DEP isn't even allowed to use the words. by Jahoda · · Score: 4, Informative
  5. Re:Let's all start running now! by grub · · Score: 3, Informative

    Florida is one giant slab of porous limestone. It's eroding from below as well, sinkholes surprise people all the time there. They can build all the dikes they want, they will collapse when the underlying ground dissolves.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  6. Re:Let's all start running now! by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Dutch don't get hurricanes almost every year though.

    Neither do Floridians.

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  7. Re:It'll sort itself out. by BCGlorfindel · · Score: 1, Informative

    Want to try again? You just listed some organisations with no proof they (and all their members) are actually doing what is claimed. Sure, it's a pithy argument and looks good, but it is logically bankrupt.

    Here's some nice anti-science religious remarks pulled from each of their websites then if you actually question that characterization:

    Sierra Club:
    The Sierra Club remains unequivocally opposed to nuclear energy.
    Nuclear is no solution to Climate Change...
    Uranium is one of the 4 Horsemen of the Dirty Fuels Apocalypse
    I think I can stop once we reach talk of horseman and apocalypse?

    GreenPeace:
    Unless checked, warming from emissions may trigger the irreversible meltdown of the Greenland ice sheet in the coming decades...
    The IPCC declares the loss of the Greenland ice sheet before 2100 virtually impossible.
    Thirty Greenpeace activists entered the Borssele nuclear power plant in Zeeland, Netherlands.
    Can I stop at proudly heralding their illegal activities?

    Running out of time but I can pull up WWF later if it's really necessary...

  8. Re:Let's all start running now! by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 3, Informative

    Keep in mind, the Dutch are surrounded by mountains.
    There is a marvelous invention mankind once made. It is called a map.
    I suggest to consult one ... once a while. It is enlightening.

    I just got enlightened myself ... did not know the oldest maps are up to 8000 years old (but well, they are star maps :D ): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    You get $100 extra if you find a mountain in Netherlands ... as far as I know the highest hill is not even 300m. (You can safely round that to 300 yards, aka 900 feet)

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.