Will US geography ever change?

[Renew Deal]

Will the makeup of the US ever change? Will there ever be a break up or foreign take over? Is the US here for good? California falling into the ocean after an earthquake doesn't count.

[msongs]

1. florida will be underwater soon, is that a foreign takeover? nt

[jsmirman]

6. More like "nature's hostile takeover"

I'm afraid.

Terrified about my own city, New York, although from what I understand, it sounds like what we've built on may be more amenable to Dutch-styled dikes, and the like?

It sure seems like that's what's going to happen to Florida, and I am terrified for their population, and fearful that the less fortunate will suffer most.

[cherokeeprogressive]

21. Define "soon".

[Bruce Wayne]

32. If it happens, Aquaman will be the new ruler of Miami

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Climactic change will change coastal

geography in significant ways in tops 50 years if they have it right.

Oh and long term nothing lasts forever...ask Athens, Sparta, any of the Egyptian middle Kingdoms, Rome, the Merovingians, I could go on.

Oh and I forgot, to be exact Cali will not fall into the Ocean, but geologic time will continue to separate from the North American plate, continue north and become an Island.

[Jamastiene]

8. True that.

Nothing lasts forever. It took me forever to learn that. Knowing that works wonders when you are going through hard times.

[JVS]

3. When I'm in charge, I'll have a public works program to re-create lake Agassiz

After that, we can run some pipe out west

[SaintPete]

22. And Lake Bonneville!

I mean ....Utah? Big freaking desert anyway, might as well fill it with water,

[Denver Donkeys]

36. Yeah

And make it a surfable Lake! Salt water has to be making one radical waves like the ones in the Pacific!

[FSogol]

30. Newt is that you?

(Just kidding.)

[baldguy]

31. I think Manitoba might object.

[JVS]

42. I promise them all lakefront property in exchange for their cooperation.

The fishing is gonna be great!

[hunter]

45. I'm gonna turn California's Salton Sea and Mexico's Laguna Salada into a huge power storage system.

I'll also take down all the dams on the Colorado River.

Is that okay with everyone?

[Jamastiene]

4. I don't know. I'm thinking of trying to talk NC into invading SC.

We really should be "The Carolinas" as opposed to this North Carolina South Carolina thing.

[JVS]

5. Dakota, Carolina, and Virginia should re-unify.

[jsmirman]

10. West Virginia certainly broke off for a good reason

I would say.

[JVS]

13. But it's been settled. Their reward should be control over all of Virginia. Suck it, Richmond!

[jsmirman]

16. It's sad that the "good" side of that

inherited sadness, exploitation, and assorted misery, while the guys on the other side have reaped so much prosperity...

[GobBluth]

14. Grew up in ND, and my family and friends still there would HATE that! nt

[jsmirman]

18. Does the local take on why they are/were split match with this:

from Wikipedia:

The territorial capital was Yankton from 1861 until 1883, when it was moved to Bismarck. The Dakota Territory was divided into the states of North Dakota and South Dakota on November 2, 1889. The admission of two states, as opposed to one, was done for a number of reasons. The two population centers in the territory were in the northeast and southeast corners of the territory, several hundred miles away from each other. On a national level, there was pressure from the Republican Party to admit two states to add to their political power in the Senate. A century later, with the populations of the two states at low levels, there were discussions of reuniting them as "Dakota", but this has never been seriously considered.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Territory

[GobBluth]

34. It has nothing to do with repukes getting more political power,

and more that (Sorry to the awesome people from South Dakota), South Dakota's government sucks and the people of ND are happy as their own state. If you were to combine them would Dems risk losing Conrad or Johnson? Don't forget Dorgan until he retired. I'll throw in Daschle also.

[jsmirman]

40. You're talking about why it's no good now

I was asking about local understanding about why it was done way back when.

Not that I don't appreciate your answer.

But the republican party referred to in the wiki entry was the "good version" of the republican party. I just found it intriguing that such a sparsely populated place would still be carved off as a separate state. But I guess I should be glad that they did so.

[FSogol]

29. No thanks. Northern Virginia should form their own (Blue) State. n/t

[RKP5637]

7. It definitely will, what form/how I often wonder about. There is so much division

and frankly nutty behavior, I often wonder if it will eventually split into two regions. I know it's always said, but nothing lasts forever.

[trackfan]

9. Yes!

Now, if you mean, in the next several decades, I don't know.

[Brother Buzz]

11. Most assuredly it will change

The question is when.

[1620rock]

12. The empire is crumbling as we speak.

[provis99]

15. the Colorado River is quickly disappearing from the map.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Colorado-River-Runs-Dry.html

[jsmirman]

17. Am I incorrect in thinking that is California's fault?

Cadillac Desert suggested much of California's population could never naturally have been supported by California's resources.

[Angleae]

23. It's a good bet.

Near 13 million people in LA/Orange counties alone and it's a desert. Northern Cal could do fine but So Cal is one big desert.

[jsmirman]

25. Yep, that was the gist of Cadillac Desert

very compelling case, very well-written.

Amazing writer who died far too young.

[KamaAina]

39. LA and Orange counties are semi-arid, not desert

though they couldn't possibly support their current mega-populations without the water they stole from Owens Valley (the plot of the classic flick "Chinatown&quot .

True desert is found only in Imperial and eastern Riverside and San Bernardino counties (think Palm Springs).

[Speck Tater]

19. After the cheap energy has run out...

any central government will only be able to control whatever can be reached in a few days on horseback. The former U.S. will probably become 5 or 6 independent countries. The former Mexican areas such as Southern Ca., Mexico, and Arizona will revert to Mexico. The Pacific Northwest along with the former British Colombia will merge into Cascadia. Florida will be largely under water and the deep south will mostly be uninhabitable in the summer due to heat and extreme weather. Manhattan, like Venice, Italy, will have more canals than streets, but will be practically a ghost town anyway. Nevada will be pretty sparsely populated with no real cities left to speak of.

This covers my projections for 50 to 75 years from now. Beyond that, English will splinter into many mutually unintelligible languages, much as Latin did after the fall of Rome when it gave rise to Italian, Romanian, Spanish, French, Catalan, etc...

(ED: A couple of egregious typos)

[Angleae]

24. 50-75 years from now the US should be in the fusion era with plenty of power.

Otherwise the US will be in very deep shit.

[Speck Tater]

33. Ah, the Star Trek scenario.

Well, if there's one good thing that Captain Kirk taught us it's that a rousing bare-chested fist fight with the bad guy solves every problem. Maybe the solution is to send all the world's politicians to some remote planet, give them a few basic resources, and let them duke it out. Where's Q when we really need him?

[On the Road]

20. It's Not Going to Split

at any point in the foreseeable future. Political boundaries have become more stable over time, especially in more developed countries. The only thing that might change that is a crisis greater than the great depression, which isn't likely in the near term either.

[RKP5637]

26. After Katrina and 911, I often wonder how well the US would deal with another

major crisis, for example, Yellowstone erupting, etc. I'm concerned about the power-plays in another major event and by whom. Many politicians and power-centers do not always have the best interests for all of America in mind. It's a human fallacy.

[lunatica]

27. World Geography is in constant flux and always has been

It changes all the time. We adapt to it. Many societies and civilizations were done in by geography no matter what politics are going on. I'm thinking Vesuvious, Pompeii and Herculaneum whose fate changed politics I'm sure.

[Capt. America]

28. Puerto Rico a state? DC statehood?

[hobbit709]

35. California won't fall into the ocean.

In about 30 million years it will be the Aleutians.

[Hugabear]

37. Yellowstone supervolcano or Canary Islands eruption could significantly change the US

Yellowstone could bury much of the Western US under ash. An eruption in the Canary Islands could create a mega-tsunami that could wipe out much of the East Coast.

[pampango]

38. North American Union? How about One World Government? (I just like to yank the Birchers' chain.)

If the rabid right is to be believed, those would be considered changes in the geography of the US. Realistically, France's borders are still France's border even with the European Union, but if you believe the JBS open borders are no borders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Union

By the time of Welch's death in 1985, the society's membership and influence had dramatically declined, but the UN's role in the Gulf War and President George H.W. Bush's call for a 'New World Order' appeared to many society members to validate their claims about a "One World Government" conspiracy.

The Society has been active in supporting the auditing[51] of, and aims to eventually dismantle, the Federal Reserve System.

The JBS was a co-sponsor of the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference, ending its decades-long exile from the mainstream conservative movement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

[charlie and algernon]

41. I'm a big fan of Pennsylvania retaking Delaware and Maryland

[FarCenter]

43. The US is abnormally large

Since 1914, the tendency has been for empires to break up.

The British, French, German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, Ottoman, and Japanese empires have broken up with a considerable multiplication of nations.

[hunter]

44. Climate change will cause major migration problems.

People from generally "red" areas without the necessary socialist political mechanisms to deal with the catastrophe will migrate to those "bluer" states and nations that remain functional.

This will cause a great deal of friction. A new generation of Okies is about to hit the road....