Even the World Bank is Worried about climate

[Joe Blake]

This came in on my newsfeed the other day.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-19/world-bank-issues-global-warming-warning/4379634

And this from a fairly conservative organisation.

It's interesting that with all the concern about low lying Pacific Islands being submerged by rising sea levels it was Manhattan Island that suffered a crushing blow. I wonder whether the same situation following Hurricane Katrina will occur with certain areas hit by storm surges etc become insurance "no go areas" and the residents and property owners find themselves unable to get insurance. Because of the "importance" of the Manhattan area, it might survive one such inundation but if it happens again ...?

There have been plans afoot for some time now to "flood proof" the area, but no matter which way you slice it, the cost is going to be almost astronomical, in financial AND environmental terms.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/20/hurricane-sandy-2012-sea-walls-storm-protection_n_2162643.html

I think we should also be watching Asia now as well, and I point to the city of Shanghai. It seems that parts of this city are set upon an alluvial plain, built up from the silt deposits by the Yangtze River. These deposits have been reduced since the building of the Three Gorges Dam, and there are some who say this will cause the plain to erode faster than it builds up. It is susceptible to typhoons, and it is conceivable that a "super typhoon" could swamp the entire island, which has an average elevation of 4 m above sea level. The population of the city is 23 million, larger than the entire population of Australia. :eek: Watch this space.

Joe

[Rob Beckers]

Nothing new there... But with half the people in the country (in the USA) denying that either there is such a thing as global warming, or that people have anything to do with it, and nearly all of the other half of the people unwilling to spend a penny to do anything about it, least of all the politicians, nothing will change for some time to come. The ability of people to collectively stick their heads in the sand is astounding.

As sad as the disaster in New York and New Jersey is, keep in mind that this was just a little category 1 hurricane. Sure, they got unlucky with a high-tide coinciding, and the the lay of the land encourages the funneling of wind-driven water so the surge gets higher. That will not change the next time a hurricane hits though, and New York is firmly in the path when it comes to hurricane probability. They knew all that before, yet lots of people were (and are) living on land that's just a few feet above sea level. So why so surprised when things go wrong?

Let's hope the rest of the world is a bit smarter!

-RoB-

[David MPierce]

Nothing new there... But with half the people in the country (in the USA) denying that either there is such a thing as global warming, or that people have anything to do with it, and nearly all of the other half of the people unwilling to spend a penny to do anything about it, least of all the politicians, nothing will change for some time to come. The ability of people to collectively stick their heads in the sand is astounding.

You are perfect and I do believe change begins in minds.

[Joe Blake]

In my OP of 2012 I expressed my concern for Shanghai in the event of a typhoon

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-11/almost-1-million-evacuated-as-super-typhoon-hits-china/6612212

Wow - talk about dodging a bullet!

[Rob Beckers]

Impressive picture of the wave breaking next to those 6 story houses...

Joe, I suppose it's inevitable that sooner or later a major population center will get hit. Storms are getting worse, and coastal populations are on the increase.

It's becoming a broken record; very little is being done to prevent or undo climate change (with this country I'm living in, Canada, as one of the worst offenders). At best the current measures by some governments slow change down, I've not seen anything that will actually lower CO2 concentrations to levels that will reverse changes. If that is even possible, since it's a positive feedback mechanism that can't be undone once thresholds are reached.

Less people and less emissions is what's needed. Neither a popular political message.

-RoB-

[Reeta Sharma]

everyone is worried about the issues of climate change, except the developed countries like China, US who are emitting huge amount of green house gases.