If I remember an Oceanography course I took, seawater levels were at some point about 400 foot higher than they are today, but much has happened geologically since then. If the Arctic ice, Greenland, etc, all melted today, I believe the figure was 40 feet that the oceans would rise.
As for raising seawalls in the marina, certainly possible, and doable as long as it doesn't happen to quickly. As for building seawall along all our beach communities, not only a far tougher task, but also one which owners would fight as their oceanfront views would be completely blocked. They'd fight it until it was too late and their homes were under water. I would hazard to guess that if sea levels were up ten feet, the homes, roads, etc. serving hundreds of thousands in L.A. alone would be underwater. For the state of California, the numbers would go into the millions. If I'm not mistaken it was also indicated that most of Manhattan would be underwater with such a rise.
Almost every year here large sand berms are built to prevent flooding during Winter storms and high tides, generally it's effective, but some flooding normally does occur. Even a one foot rise in sea level would require building such berms much of the year.
I just heard that parts of New Orleans are sinking at a rate of up to 2" a year. How long can we keep New Orleans viable with sea water rising, and the land sinking. Likewise, what happens to Venice Italy.
We can ignore all these things, or we can attempt to do something, I clearly believe we should do things while many of my friends don't believe in what the scientists are saying.
Gary |
