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Thermal Science Scientist: Miami will be flooded and nothing can be done about it

They'll probably put up a wall.

150711_2880297_The_Expanse__What_s_It_About__3000x1688_482809923810.jpg
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HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
The problem is that it really doesn't matter what the US. The rest of the world sill builds coal plants.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/01/...coal-plants-climate-change.html?smid=tw-share

To me, the root cause is basically abandoning nuclear energy. I'm not saying that doesn't have drawbacks, but many of those were caused because of irrational fear of nuclear energy.

By not building more modern nuclear plants, safer, cleaner ones to replace the older ones, and continuing to user the older, more risk prone ones, we're just asking for trouble. But turning fears into reality by relying on those older plants which will inevitably have problems, because no matter how much you maintain them, they are just getting older and older and older..

Did you misquote someone? I'm not really sure what this has to do with what I said.
 

Xe4

Banned
We're essentially locked into that change now though. That's if we clean up our act now. Things are going to get worse than predicted, not better baring some magical moment where people come to their senses on the matter in the immediate future.

By 2100? The 1 meter rise is going to be about accurate (+/- .5 meters), based on our current emissions by most of those who studied the topic. I can link to resources if you'd like. Even if we reduced emissions greatly, the majority of that would still happen. It's just future (ie past 2100) sea level rise will be lesser or greater depending on our actions today.

It still doesn't change my point that the guy who was part of the Q&A section was using some serious hyperbole. It's something that people need to be careful of, especially on an issue like climate change.
 

Veezy

que?
The problem is you have to believe in climate change and be willing to put in the huge amount of money, R&D, time and labor into these huge undertakings.
Exactly.

It's going to take international cooperation, strong federal leadership around the entire world, and a partnership with State and local governments within those nations to deal with the short and long term problems. It's expensive, it's messy, and no matter how it's addressed millions, possibly billions, will be impacted around the world.

Our nation just pulled out of a voluntary agreement and Florida's governor is Rick Scott. I wish there was a short term solution, but you need leadership that agrees there even a problem and we haven't got there yet. What about Manhattan, or Puerto Rico, or coastal areas of CA, parts of HI, the Gulf states outside of FL, etc. I really do try not to think about it too much because it's overwhelming, but I don't think the States are going to react to this in enough time.
 

IrishNinja

Member
A few years ago I was living maybe 100 feet from Biscayne Bay. One day it rained for a few hours yet there was maybe 5 feet of water all over the area. My car was basically under water. The building next to mine wasn't elevated enough and people had 3 feet of water in their apartment. If a bad hurricane with a lot of rain comes again, hate to say it, but it's gonna devastate Miami, again, this time from flooding, especially on the beaches and Downtown. Dade County made a lot of adjustments to construction standards, but only after Andrew. Unfortunately that's what I think it will take.

oh yeah, Andrew absolutely proved we have to get wrecked before stepping things up...our codes here now are, for the most part, better than a lot of places as a result though

High rises will be fine at least!

yeah, here on the 17th floor it's something, haha - still, my dream is to move up with civil service & own a house down south (inland) so it'd be grand if we saw more process than just the beach's mayor tweeting
 

Cocaloch

Member
By 2100? The 1 meter rise is going to be about accurate (+/- .5 meters), based on our current emissions by most of those who studied the topic. I can link to resources if you'd like. Even if we reduced emissions greatly, the majority of that would still happen. It's just future (ie past 2100) sea level rise will be lesser or greater depending on our actions today.

It still doesn't change my point that the guy who was part of the Q&A section was using some serious hyperbole. It's something that people need to be careful of, especially on an issue like climate change.

Right, that's exactly what I'm saying. I.e. the potential there for things to get worse is greater than for things to get better unless there is large scale cultural and intellectual shift in the immediate future.
 
The part of Florida that ensured Trump's victory will probably be glad when South Florida sinks.

That'll force the much larger populations t hat are majority blue to diffuse into the smaller populations that are majority red, creating a majority blue state district wise, too.
 

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
We're going to build a wall. We're going to build a wall, a really great wall, all around the shores of Miami, to block the water, if it happens. If!, it happens. Ok? Because we really don't know, we just don't know. Some say it will happen, this thing, but we don't know, some say it won't happen! But if it does we will build a wall, before it happens. It will be so great, it might become a tourist attraction, I think it could be, why not? Maybe we could have some rides going in the water on one side, on the side where the water is higher. And like the wall along Mexico we could have solar panels on top, it pays itself! That's an idea I had, not bad uh? I think it could be great. We might be able to see it from space! Like the wall they have in China! We can have our own walls folks, we can. China has had a wall for a long time and nobody is complaining, but when we build one they say it's bad, don't do it, it's so bad, please don't build this wall. But we will folks, we will, in fact we already started, it's way ahead of schedule, and if it wasn't for the whiny fake media that try to give it a bad reputation I think it would be even more ahead of schedule. But it's great, it's going to be a great wall, no more drugs getting in folks, no more drugs.
 
He's right Miami will be lost. According to local scientists the rock underneath Miami is a type of pourus limestone that absorbs water as a sponge instead of rock like in the Netherlands that works as a underground barrier. It doesn't matter how many seawalls Miami builds the water will come from underneath the ground.
 

Xe4

Banned
He's right Miami will be lost. According to local scientists the rock underneath Miami is a type of pourus limestone that absorbs water as a sponge instead of rock like in the Netherlands that works as a underground barrier. It doesn't matter how many seawalls Miami builds the water will come from underneath the ground.

Source? A scientific paper, preferably.
 
Source? A scientific paper, preferably.

I don't really have a source. Living in South Florida for a long time you read local newspapers and the like from local sources that all say the same thing.

1. That Miami is going to be underwater because of the limestone.

2. Miami has no sand and their scrambling to find sand.
 

dramatis

Member
Here's 4 ft of sea level rise. The 1m sea level rise would be between this and the previous picture. Bad, certainly but it's a far cry from "Miami being lost", as he claimed.
I was coincidentally reading about Miami and its sea level problems before this thread popped up, and here's a lengthy article about how that 3ft rise can cause a host of other problems that isn't just how much of Miami will be underwater by then.

Issues like freshwater, high tides, storms, the beaches (which is a heavy source of income via tourism), and so on.

The NOAA map shows how much land will be lost to the sea, but it doesn't show how much land will continue to suffer from frequent flooding.
 

Xe4

Banned
are you asking about the porous limestone bit or what in particular?
Yes.

I don't really have a source. Living in South Florida for a long time you read local newspapers and the like from local sources that all say the same thing.

1. That Miami is going to be underwater because of the limestone.

2. Miami has no sand and their scrambling to find sand.
For a claim as serious as Miami "being underwater", I'll need strong evidence for (extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and all that). I don't doubt submergence (geologic activity sinking land) is pretty common in the South East, which is what's happening in New Orleans, for example, but I don't know if that's the case in Miami.
I was coincidentally reading about Miami and its sea level problems before this thread popped up, and here's a lengthy article about how that 3ft rise can cause a host of other problems that isn't just how much of Miami will be underwater by then.

Issues like freshwater, high tides, storms, the beaches (which is a heavy source of income via tourism), and so on.

The NOAA map shows how much land will be lost to the sea, but it doesn't show how much land will continue to suffer from frequent flooding.

I don't doubt any of that. The problems with climate change go beyond just high sea levels. Increased salinity, ocean acidification, more dangerous storms, more extreme weather, and more. I was specifically talking about Miami "being underwater", which is not something we could expect to happen for at least a few centuries, even with the worst case global warming scenario.
 

TyrantII

Member
The only thing in the interview I really disagree with is that the US might lose out on the economic advantages of solar and wind. For as short sighted as our politicians are now, US businesses see the long term advantages of renewable energy and will continue to invest, and hopefully sell, to other countries

People vastly underestimate just how vital the government is for the R&D, building out the regulatory environment, and pushing final consumer production to the world.

If they don't do it someone (China) will, and the companies will go there to get in on the pie.

Our government and capital markets are much more connected than the bootstraps libertarians would like you to believe. Don't misconstrue their anti tax rhetoric for how essential government is for pushing new industry.
 

J_Viper

Member
I've lived in Miami for most of my life. Being swallowed by the sea is a fitting end for such a hell hole

/edgelord
 

Ecotic

Member
If by the middle of this century carbon emissions are falling quite steadily and we begin sucking out 40 billion or more tons of carbon a year from the atmosphere, can we avoid this fate?
 
We were very afraid the United States would stay in the Paris accord, but sabotage it from the inside. Now with the US out, this gives other countries a chance to lead. And we know that now the economics are driving clean renewable energy deployment around the world, and that countries like China are taking major steps to become global leaders.]

WOW. That's how shitty they expected this administration would go. To sabotage other countries trying to save the world.
 

Gnomepowered

Neo Member
Don't forget all of Florida rests on an extremely porous karst limestone peninsula; once sea levels rise, salt water is going to intrude into the aquifer, eliminating the main source of fresh water.

So in addition to holding back three feet of sea water, you also need a massive desalination process, storm water collection, tight water conservation, wastewater reuse and management (because salt water in the sewer systems is another wrinkle for water treatment) and a whole bunch of other crap to ensure fresh drinking water.

All of that comes with a huge price tag, so eventually coastal Florida will just be too expensive to inhabit.



To this point, the Netherlands are supplied with fresh water from several alpine rivers, and won't have that problem.

It also doesn't really matter because, forgetting freshwater displacement, as sea level rises it will just rise through the bedrock. It's why dikes and levies can't save Florida in the end
 

DrBo42

Member
They'll probably put up a wall.

Here in the Netherlands we did that and it is working quite well! Half our country is below sea level but we are still dry!

Nothing can be done to save Miami is a bit much. Has this dude never heard of Holland?

It won't help. Miami is on top of porous limestone. So even if you build sea walls, water will still rise from below. There's no saving it.

Edit: Ah, already mentioned earlier.
 

Oni Jazar

Member
Didn't Florida vote for Trump? I guess they voted for their own displacement.

Guess who didn't vote for Trump? The actual cities in Florida like Miami, FTL, WPB, Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville & Tallahassee . Totals were 4,605,515 DT to 4,485,745 H.R.C. --- Meanwhile, Johnson got 206,007 votes X(

Dj4qJsv.png
 
I've lived in Miami for most of my life. Being swallowed by the sea is a fitting end for such a hell hole

/edgelord

I've never understood comments like this. What the hell is wrong with Miami. It's expensive as hell yes, but it has every form of entertainment, food, and shit to do for fun that you would want as a human being.

When people post shit comments like this it makes no sense.
 

KevinRo

Member
AT BEST the Paris Agreement would have retarded two-tenths of one degree of warming. How this is even part of discussion about Miami being flooded is beyond me.
 
Guess who didn't vote for Trump? The actual cities in Florida like Miami, FTL, WPB, Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville & Tallahassee . Totals were 4,605,515 DT to 4,485,745 H.R.C. --- Meanwhile, Johnson got 206,007 votes X(

Dj4qJsv.png

And when it comes down to it, an effort will be made to save the cities. Not the "unimportant" parts.
 

____

Member
I've never understood comments like this. What the hell is wrong with Miami. It's expensive as hell yes, but it has every form of entertainment, food, and shit to do for fun that you would want as a human being.

When people post shit comments like this it makes no sense.

Influence of the internet I guess. I've lived here for over 20 years and still find it amazing.
 
They need to stop saying 2100 for starters. Way out of the empathy range for most to care I'd imagine. This country is notoriously optimistic, and believes it'll all be fixed by then.
 

Davilmar

Member
As someone living in Tampa (west coast of Florida), I am not incredibly appreciative of the post condemning Florida. I am a New Yorker by birth, and was embarrassed that this clown from my home state was elected and Florida went along with him. Hillsborough County went Blue, and we despise the guy. We also despise Rick Scott (current governor), so basically telling all of us to get fucked is pretty foul. As much as I shake my head at the South (Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, etc), I won't condemn the people trying to make a difference. I doubt Miami can be saved without some massive shifts in local and state government, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. I just pray the effects will be mitigated, and people of lower socioeconomic circumstances can be protected as they will be the most vulnerable.
 

Sunster

Member
They are still building condos and hotels one the god damned sand as we speak down in miami. city's fucked.
 

molotrok

Member
Guess who didn't vote for Trump? The actual cities in Florida like Miami, FTL, WPB, Tampa, Orlando, Gainesville & Tallahassee . Totals were 4,605,515 DT to 4,485,745 H.R.C. --- Meanwhile, Johnson got 206,007 votes X(

Dj4qJsv.png
Jacksonville continues to be trash.
 

ionitron

Member
Yep. I'm moving out asap. I feel so bad for my parents ;/ I don't even want to think about what'll happen to my loved ones with low incomes -sigh-
 

IrishNinja

Member
I've never understood comments like this. What the hell is wrong with Miami. It's expensive as hell yes, but it has every form of entertainment, food, and shit to do for fun that you would want as a human being.

When people post shit comments like this it makes no sense.

As someone living in Tampa (west coast of Florida), I am not incredibly appreciative of the post condemning Florida. I am a New Yorker by birth, and was embarrassed that this clown from my home state was elected and Florida went along with him. Hillsborough County went Blue, and we despise the guy. We also despise Rick Scott (current governor), so basically telling all of us to get fucked is pretty foul. As much as I shake my head at the South (Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, etc), I won't condemn the people trying to make a difference. I doubt Miami can be saved without some massive shifts in local and state government, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. I just pray the effects will be mitigated, and people of lower socioeconomic circumstances can be protected as they will be the most vulnerable.

thank you for both of these posts

They are still building condos and hotels one the god damned sand as we speak down in miami. city's fucked.

much better than this one
 

____

Member
thank you for both of these posts



much better than this one

I agree with you 100% but I will agree it's crazy just how many high rises are going up at this very moment if not for the traffic alone. I work at the port of Miami and drive thru downtown every day and there are at least 6 high rises going up concurrently within blocks of each other. But again I'm more concerned with the traffic situation.
 

IrishNinja

Member
I agree with you 100% but I will agree it's crazy just how many high rises are going up at this very moment if not for the traffic alone. I work at the port of Miami and drive thru downtown every day and there are at least 6 high rises going up concurrently within blocks of each other. But again I'm more concerned with the traffic situation.

i mean, millions of people stay moving in here, so it's not surprising. again, we've not even had a particularly active hurricane season since like '05 - we're gonna have to see more than the usual beach flooding to change any of that, sadly

Good riddance

another garbage post, really wish these were at least soft bannable

Jacksonville continues to be trash.

see now this post is fair
 

spekkeh

Banned
He's right Miami will be lost. According to local scientists the rock underneath Miami is a type of pourus limestone that absorbs water as a sponge instead of rock like in the Netherlands that works as a underground barrier. It doesn't matter how many seawalls Miami builds the water will come from underneath the ground.
The Netherlands doesn't have a rocky soil. It's a swamp. Peat may absorb water better than limestone, but yeah just building a dike is not enough. You need desalination, ground water control, lots of sand and other measures. The town of Gouda (from the cheese) is sinking into the ground at such a rate that they started building roads on Styrofoam. Miami will have to take similar measures. The problem of course is

Republicans are a force of nature even the Dutch would have difficulty dealing with.

"Build a sea wall? With MY TAX MONEY?"

Unless it performs double-duty of keeping Mexicans out, it's not happening.
It requires serious tax money and I can see constituents looking away until it's too late and then still vote Republican because they act the most indignant over the situation (water) that arose.

In the Netherlands they're slowly talking about flooding parts of populated environments too to combat the rising tide. But it will only be lowly populated areas. The cities are too rich to fail. It appears to me that Miami is waaaaaay too rich to fail.

That said. The Katrina disaster could have easily been averted too if the government invested in a proper water management system. But taxes.
 
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