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lol, isn't philly already like 70 miles inland from the coast? I doubt rising sea levels is an extreme concern as opposed to cities like NYC and Miami....where they quite literally sit on the immediate coastline.
Look at an elevation map. Parts of South Philadelphia are only a few feet above sea level.
lol, isn't philly already like 70 miles inland from the coast? I doubt rising sea levels is an extreme concern as opposed to cities like NYC and Miami....where they quite literally sit on the immediate coastline.
By the map you posted they aren't even in the same league. If sea levels rose by 25', 100% of Miami would be flooded out. Philly would be 21% flooded out.
How exactly will a city center "move"? All major cities are built out for the most part so "moving" a downtown into another neighborhood would essentially require the demolition of dozens of preexisting buildings which is never likely to happen because the cost to seize that land via eminent domain would be astronomical. It would also require a city to alter its entire infrastructure to compensate for higher development elsewhere. And city council doesn't build buildings--private developers do. Developers decide where they want to build and they are permitted or denied to build what they want by the city council. So unless demand is so high that developers are likely to turn over a profit (which would be unlikely due to land values dropping after something as devastating as a flood or sea levels rising), developers would just invest elsewhere.
And building a sea wall is not "insane". Manhattan is already underway with a new sea wall plan if memory serves me right.
why can't you accept the fact that cities change and adapt over time? it isn't unreasonable to think that a downtown could move over the span of 50-100 years. Brooklyn was at one time farm land, next to manhattan. then it was a quiet suburban area next to manhattan. now it has 2.5 million residents and is by itself one of the most booming, largest cities IN THE WORLD. over the course of a century cities could most deffinitely rearrange themselves, no?
I suspect the meter-high rise predicted this century will have little effect. Flooding will be more common. Some properties will retreat, but most cities will go about their business as usual. Many low-lying barrier islands will pay a heavy price though. NC's Outer Banks could feel the same fate as LA's Chandeleur islands, which is unfortunate.
Miami and New Orleans will probably feel it the most.
Later centuries though, those will be interesting.
Look at an elevation map. Parts of South Philadelphia are only a few feet above sea level.
People are really geographically challenged. The Delaware River at Philadelphia is tidal. There are navy ships there. The Connecticut River at Hartford CT is tidal. They run oil barges up it.
Where I'm from built a hurricane **** in New Bedford in the 1960s. At any storm surge and at king tides, they close the harbor entrance. Some cities have a topography where that kind of project is possible. Other's don't. Philly would probably be pretty straightforward. Boston and New York would cost a fortune.
People are really geographically challenged. The Delaware River at Philadelphia is tidal. There are navy ships there. The Connecticut River at Hartford CT is tidal. They run oil barges up it.
Where I'm from built a hurricane **** in New Bedford in the 1960s. At any storm surge and at king tides, they close the harbor entrance. Some cities have a topography where that kind of project is possible. Other's don't. Philly would probably be pretty straightforward. Boston and New York would cost a fortune.
You can do anything. All it takes is money.
Providence has a similar surge barrier.
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