Rising seas threaten 21 mega-cities

[babylonsister]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SINKING_CITIES?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Rising seas threaten 21 mega-cities

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Cities around the world are facing the danger of rising seas and other disasters related to climate change.

Of the 33 cities predicted to have at least 8 million people by 2015, at least 21 are highly vulnerable, says the Worldwatch Institute.

They include Dhaka, Bangladesh; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Shanghai and Tianjin in China; Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt; Mumbai and Kolkata in India; Jakarta, Indonesia; Tokyo and Osaka-Kobe in Japan; Lagos, Nigeria; Karachi, Pakistan; Bangkok, Thailand, and New York and Los Angeles in the United States, according to studies by the United Nations and others.

More than one-tenth of the world's population, or 643 million people, live in low-lying areas at risk from climate change, say U.S. and European experts. Most imperiled, in descending order, are China, India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, Egypt, the U.S., Thailand and the Philippines.

[Nimrod2005]

1. I guess I will be ok here in South Florida...I have been hearing otherwise?

It would be perfect if the rapture happens before then, we'll have more room on earth...I am hoping to get a beach front property in Las Vegas!

[philb]

5. Storm surge from big hurricanes will swamp lots of people in Florida coastal areas

over the next 2 decades. The coastal insurence cost will continue to rise.

The major subsidies to coastal growth in Florida have produced a major unsustainable situation.

[razzleberry]

2. LA --> Venice-like city

worse things have happened

[Xithras]

4. LA actually isn't in that much danger.

A 40 foot sea level rise would put Long Beach, Santa Monica, and Huntington Beach under water, but the rest of LA wouldn't be impacted. LAX wouldn't even be submerged. Most of LA climbs pretty sharply up from the sea.

Where things actually get interesting is further inland. A 40 foot rise would make Palm Springs into beachfront property. A sea rising that far would pour over Mexicali, flood into the Salton basin, inundate Indo, and establish a new shoreline somewhere around Palm Springs/Palm Desert.

[NNadir]

6. Um, I think the loss of the Terminal Island facilities would damage Walmart's profits.

Then there's Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach - including the dangerous fossil fuel plant just South of Hermosa Ave, Playa Del Ray, much of Malibu. I have a feeling the dangerous fossil fuel processing facility in El Segundo will leach crap into Santa Monica Bay for thousands of years when the bluffs near it collapse into the waves, not that the Santa Monica Bay is much more than a septic tank anyway.

San Pedro, Wilmington, parts of Torrance and Carson - lots of dangerous fossil fuel processing plants are in this area, are all indundated at 10 m. Much of the 710 below the 405 is cut - not that the car culture has all that long to exist and a huge strectch of the 405 itself is in the waves.

Then there is the matter of erosion and that little matter of average temperatures that currently typify Death Valley.

Maps can be found here:

http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=43.3251,-101.6015&z=13&m=7

I plugged in 10 m. Try 20 m for fun.

[NNadir]

3. I guess this thread falls into the "couldn't care less" category. K&R.

[Dead_Parrot]

9. Somebody should point out that seawater is radioactive

and even contains tritium.

Maybe that'll make the buggers sit up and pay attention? :shrug:

[Dover]

7. Hmmmm....no mention of cities on the Gulf of Mexico?

I would think N. Orleans, Houston, and other coastal cities would also be on that list.

[malakai2]

8. 21 of 33 cities projected to have 8+ million inhabitants

That's why New Orleans and Houston, and a great many other coastal cities worldwide, aren't on the list.