141–150 of 186 posts
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Evacuation...or build more homes on stilts. When does Florida become America's Venice?
> When does Florida become America's Venice? Quite an amusing comparison considering that Venice is commonly seen as an international beacon of sophisticated culture and history, while Florida is... well. I'm not American so I'll leave the rest up to the reader.
I find it a bit ironic given the MIT climate simulator on HN yesterday - the biggest impact (in that simulator) to climate change was the land/agriculture methane. Right now the Dutch farmers are again harassing the country with their tractors on public roads, angry about what they feel is undue pressure to reduce their emissions. Maybe they'll get one or two more generations of farming as they hasten their own demis…
Yet they apparently have huge backing from the public.
When I try debating the problem with people they get extremely angry with me when I mention that the farmers are:
a) Entirely responsible for the problem.
b) Largely capable of fixing the problem.
c) Relatively rich. Agricultural land is VERY valuable here.
d) They are actively destroying our planet and country.
You have rich business men who have invested in quadrupling their farming capacity (and now have problems with their loans) demanding that the government bail them out, or they'll ghost ride along the motorway (which they did this afternoon on my local motorway). Or they'll block the supermarket distribution centers for Xmas.
If I wasn't alone I'd love to protest at a few hundred of the farms here in the region, see how they like it when we block their commerce. We can import food from Germany, their businesses wouldn't last half a year if they can't ship anything.
I find it a bit ironic given the MIT climate simulator on HN yesterday - the biggest impact (in that simulator) to climate change was the land/agriculture methane. Right now the Dutch farmers are again harassing the country with their tractors on public roads, angry about what they feel is undue pressure to reduce their emissions. Maybe they'll get one or two more generations of farming as they hasten their own demis…
> So basically, the commercial farmers are ruining this > country (and contributing to ruining the planet), > and being jerks while doing so. Yet they apparently have huge backing from the public. When I try debating the problem with people they get extremely angry with me when I mention that the farmers are: a) Entirely responsible for the problem. b) Largely capable of fixing the problem. c) Relatively rich. Agricu…
You are never alone. Find like-minded people and go ahead. (I am not saying whether I find it a good idea or not).
I find it a bit ironic given the MIT climate simulator on HN yesterday - the biggest impact (in that simulator) to climate change was the land/agriculture methane. Right now the Dutch farmers are again harassing the country with their tractors on public roads, angry about what they feel is undue pressure to reduce their emissions. Maybe they'll get one or two more generations of farming as they hasten their own demis…
The protests are related to regulations for nitrogen emissions, not greenhouse gases. So it's not related to this "demise" nonsense. And if there should be a demise -- well, the Dutch contribution to global GHG emissions is almost negligible these days. As for nitrogen emissions, these have more than halved since 1990. We could still do better, but if Dutch agricultural production moves abroad it will certainly be re…
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Is there a solution that would work for Florida?
Evacuation...or build more homes on stilts. When does Florida become America's Venice?
Indeed there are a number of houses that are built on stilts for flooding purposes.
Nowadays that's very uncommon; housing developments often built up the ground enough to mitigate the equivalent flooding risk.
It won't. NL has been preparing quite hard for a rise in sea level and/or worse storms. The port of IJmuiden is being overhauled, the shoreline defenses have all been raised, in some places only about 3 ft, in others much more depending on the likelihood of flooding. A bigger problem is that during an extended period of high water that the rivers won't be able to drain into the North Sea and studies are being made on…
I may be biased because I live in the NL and I live slightly below sea level. But I would be more worried to live on the coast somewhere else that has no history of dealing with these kinds of problems. In some sense The Netherlands is the only country on the planet to have the political structures in place to deal with rising sea waters. What do people think Florida is going to do? They're already losing their drink…
As a former Floridian, that's news to me. Any links?
The groundwater is enough to get that I know a number of people who have their own wells. (That plus a generator is really nice post-hurricane.)
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Evacuation...or build more homes on stilts. When does Florida become America's Venice?
> When does Florida become America's Venice? Quite an amusing comparison considering that Venice is commonly seen as an international beacon of sophisticated culture and history, while Florida is... well. I'm not American so I'll leave the rest up to the reader.
...similar in that it is also a top tourist destination.
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> I expect the world to be in a very different place in a few decades and not for the better Given history to date I would say that is a safe assumption when you are living in a time of prosperity, it is the global equivalent of 'this too shall pass'. But even if NL will be hit hard I highly doubt it will be hit hardest or first. We've been vaccinated in a sense in not trusting nature to leave her boundaries where we…
Indeed we won't be hit hardest or first, but consider this. Just about the entire Randstad is in a single "Dijkring" (Dijkring 14). And because a large part of the Randstad is flooded, if any part of the defense goes, it goes entirely. And as the Randstad is the economic heart of the country, the country will not recover. Also because it can't feasibly be evacuated. So flooding will happen in other places first, but…
It won't. NL has been preparing quite hard for a rise in sea level and/or worse storms. The port of IJmuiden is being overhauled, the shoreline defenses have all been raised, in some places only about 3 ft, in others much more depending on the likelihood of flooding. A bigger problem is that during an extended period of high water that the rivers won't be able to drain into the North Sea and studies are being made on…
I may be biased because I live in the NL and I live slightly below sea level. But I would be more worried to live on the coast somewhere else that has no history of dealing with these kinds of problems. In some sense The Netherlands is the only country on the planet to have the political structures in place to deal with rising sea waters. What do people think Florida is going to do? They're already losing their drink…
New Orleans is largely below sea level.
(Though maybe Katrina proves your point.)