Quote:
Originally Posted by jlousa
I trust engineers a lot more then I trust climatologists. Richmond will be fine just like the Netherlands will be.
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Engineers have no incentive to include these calculations - in fact they are disincentivized. What if it led to project cancellation?
Second - Netherlands are taking dramatic steps to prepare for the future, to put Richmond beside Netherlands is definitely not serving your point.
As mentioned above, Miami is already experiencing daytime flooding due to swelling ground water.
Do you suppose that engineers were not involved in the billions of real estate developed there in the last decade?
The response to this problem? They use a system similar to CAC to pay for raising road ways, and to install and run 24/7 elaborate water extraction infrastructure.
Or in other words - literally trying to pump their way out of rising oceans around an island.
Lastly, insurance companies in the US are already plugging in the sea level rise scenarios into their premiums and liabilities. The few inches of rise we have already experience are magnifying storm surge damage, see Hurricane Sandy.
Its important to understand that the worse case scenarios, projected out 100 years don't need to come to pass to render areas like Richmond unlivable.
You don't need 6ft sea level rise to breach dikes and flood Richmond.
You need the hydrostatic pressure of another 1-2ft rise over next 2-3 decades to allow ground swell and daily flooding of the entire delta.
I don't imagine living in Richmond with 2-3 inches of ground water inside malls, parking lots, and homes at high tide will be a fun experience.
Certainly easier to brush this aside though and in couple decades whip out the usual - we had no idea it could be this bad, how could governments allow this to happen? What are we supposed to do now? Where do we go!?