Life & Death Distractions Even as the Big Picture Looms
“Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…”
Winston Churchhill, November 11, 1947.
I love my country, and as we approach the quarter millennium celebration of our nationhood, simply, I want my great America back… flawed, imperfect and a chaotic as it is, but one anchored in reality and not afraid to accept and face facts. We have a rogue Supreme Court, aiding and abetting autocracy at every turn, a Trump-captive GOP-led Congress, a clown car of blithering idiot “cabinet members” blathering falsehoods as the gospel, a snobbish “big business cronies rule” President who has unilaterally led us into a war we cannot truly win, tanking our economy in a way even his illegal tariffs never could; we are an isolated nation, a global pariah, but I still believe in the resiliency of the majority of Americans, who also love their country, to respond.
While all of this is going on, unprecedented floods, toxic weather, drought and searing heat plague our country (and the rest of the world), as the President of the United States declares the obvious massive “climate change” – the escalating killer disaster that impacts everyone on Earth – to be a “hoax.” He is doing everything he possibly can to undo the alternative energy progress to date and incentivize the root cause of it all, burning fossil fuels as his “drill baby, drill” profoundly misguided mandate to his entire government. The United States has become the global outlier on containing climate change, ceding the competitive technology research and resulting consumer products to China, perhaps sending Detroit’s automotive industry into a slow, lingering death spiral.
The notion of losing sufficient land mass to force severe dislocations of population centers, due to rising seas, is something that happens “over there” or in small isolated Native American communities on small patches of the Arctic Ocean shore in Alaska. Like Tuvalu: “Nestled in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, Tuvalu, a collection of nine coral atolls and islands, emerges as a tranquil haven of natural beauty. This small island nation houses just over 11,000 people. Blessed with pristine landscapes and surrounded by azure waters, Tuvalu has long been celebrated for its unique charm. However, beneath this idyllic exterior lies a pressing and immediate challenge: the subtle yet relentless embrace of rising sea levels.
“Tuvalu’s struggle is not just a local narrative but a poignant reminder for the wider repercussions of climate change to small island nations. As this paradisiacal archipelago grapples with the looming prospect of disappearing forever, it serves as a strong wakeup call that the impacts of climate change are not a distant future but an unfolding and harsh reality that needs immediate action.” Earth.org (January 29, 2024).
We lack empathy for those peoples, but there are so many climate change warnings, threatening large cities, even in the United States, that we ignore those realities at our peril. Sooner or later, every US coastal city will face infrastructure collapse requiring the relocation of vast populations inland. The Gulf coast, centering on New Orleans, already decimated by sea rise/storm surge flooding from Hurricane Katrina in 1965, is already unraveling… as these excepts from two reports (one from Nature.com/The Weather Channel – which presented the above map – and the other from the Yale School of the Environment – YSE) suggest.
Telling us that population relocation should already be on the planning/beginning implementation agenda, Jennifer Gray, writing for May 5th Weather Channel, begins with this warning: “Scientists are issuing a stark warning for coastal Louisiana communities, including New Orleans, that the time to begin planning for relocation is now… In a new study published in Nature, the latest research examines how climate change is causing a combination of sea-level rise, sinking land and intensifying extreme weather, and how it is all impacting one of the most vulnerable coastlines in America.
“Yes, New Orleans has made improvements to its levee system, floodwalls and drainage ability. However, these defenses may not be enough to keep pace with worsening conditions expected over the coming decades. Scientists warn that these vulnerable coastal communities should retreat before a powerful storm gives the city no choice… We have known for some time that New Orleans stands out as one of the most at-risk urban areas in the United States. But scientists now believe the conversations surrounding its long-term future need to be addressed.
“Does this mean we close down one of the nation’s most unique cities and tell everyone to pack up? Absolutely no… Since 2005, at least five major hurricanes have struck the Louisiana coast. Research shows that Rita, Laura and Delta, all of which struck Cameron Parish, have had a major impact on the 50% population decline in the last 24 years. Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes have both had a 25% population decline… Delaying those [relocation] conversations could lead to far more chaotic outcomes, especially after major flooding events, when decisions are made under pressure.” The May 8th Yale study echoes this reality:
“‘Louisiana is a canary in the coal mine. It is one of the rare places where we’re already clearly seeing climate-motivated depopulation combined with other social and economic factors,’ said Brianna Castro, assistant professor of urban sustainability at YSE… [She] worked with an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Tulane University, Florida State University, and Coastal Carolina University on the study, which was published in Nature Sustainability. The team noted that the current population retreat in Louisiana offers a ‘first mover advantage,’ which provides opportunities to learn what policies and plans are effective in advancing social welfare and environmental quality during relocation. By acknowledging the inevitability of the shoreline’s retreat now, the state can begin managed relocation — an orderly, multigenerational transition of people and infrastructure to higher ground — and set an example of how areas around the world can plan for climate adaptation, they noted.
“‘Transition planning offers significant first-mover opportunities, including the development of innovations in infrastructure and housing that is affordable for people on the move,’ said study coauthor Jesse Keenan, the Favrot II Associate Professor in Tulane’s School of Architecture and Built Environment… What kind of retreat do you want? Do you want to incentivize it and then people go naturally for jobs, housing, and lifestyle amenities — or do you want people to wait and then have to leave abruptly in crisis.” Nature does not seem to care what politicians say or want; she is not distracted from the laws of physics by the rantings of a failed US presidency.
I’m Peter Dekom, and I believe that the United States is particularly failing Gen Z and younger generations – the segment of the US population destined to be most affected by our ignoring climate change – and current administration policies are only making a very bad reality ever so much worse.
Posts
