$400 Billion in coastal defences for the US alone, what else could $400B buy?
https://blog.plangrid.com/2019/11/seawall-construction-projects/
This reminded me of the latest edition of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. In the opening stages of World War II, the Royal Navy was dedicated to supremacy of the battleship. 30+ years of technical development had produced fighting ships with unparalleled lethality. That is, unparalleled lethality when compared to other surface ships. They had limited anti-aircraft capabilities of their own and there were very few land-based planes in the area.
Taking the Prince of Wales and Repulse into action without air cover proved to be virtually suicidal. They were quickly overwhelmed by a relatively small number of Japanese aircraft. 18 aviators for 840 sailors' lives. At the very same time, a slow and painful fighting retreat along the Malay peninsula was delaying the Japanese occupation of that area.
One was an utterly fruitless waste of lives and resources. The other, while tragic beyond measure, did have an impact on the overall war effort. The Japanese Imperial forces were deeply constrained by resources . Every day they had to slog through those jungles was another day American industry used to build the aircraft and aircraft carriers that would decide the war.
Now that the scale of the climate change battle before us is becoming apparent, it is critical to avoid expensive efforts that will ultimately be futile. The particular example that comes to mind occurs along our coasts. Enhancing coastal resilience will become a common theme among state and local lawmakers in the coming years. Property tax revenue and votes will be at stake. Most of it will be utterly futile. When those resilience measures are overwhelmed by the sea level rise that we have already set in motion, the marginal cost of not having used those resources elsewhere will be tremendous. The civil engineering and debt nexus embodied by most state departments of transportation will spring into action exactly when it doesn't matter, when it can't possibly change the outcome.
It is, right now, time to plan our retreat from the coasts. Sustainability and resilience efforts have to start with an assessment of the long-term livability of a place given what we do already know. We know 6 feet of sea level rise is inevitable. To fight that is not rational. Even in places ultimately doomed to be consumed by the sea, short-term changes do matter. They matter intensely because they will benefit everyone everywhere. In those same coastal areas, short term changes that cut carbon emissions still make sense. The sooner these painful choices are made, the better the outcomes for everyone.
https://blog.plangrid.com/2019/11/seawall-construction-projects/
This reminded me of the latest edition of Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. In the opening stages of World War II, the Royal Navy was dedicated to supremacy of the battleship. 30+ years of technical development had produced fighting ships with unparalleled lethality. That is, unparalleled lethality when compared to other surface ships. They had limited anti-aircraft capabilities of their own and there were very few land-based planes in the area.
Taking the Prince of Wales and Repulse into action without air cover proved to be virtually suicidal. They were quickly overwhelmed by a relatively small number of Japanese aircraft. 18 aviators for 840 sailors' lives. At the very same time, a slow and painful fighting retreat along the Malay peninsula was delaying the Japanese occupation of that area.
One was an utterly fruitless waste of lives and resources. The other, while tragic beyond measure, did have an impact on the overall war effort. The Japanese Imperial forces were deeply constrained by resources . Every day they had to slog through those jungles was another day American industry used to build the aircraft and aircraft carriers that would decide the war.
Now that the scale of the climate change battle before us is becoming apparent, it is critical to avoid expensive efforts that will ultimately be futile. The particular example that comes to mind occurs along our coasts. Enhancing coastal resilience will become a common theme among state and local lawmakers in the coming years. Property tax revenue and votes will be at stake. Most of it will be utterly futile. When those resilience measures are overwhelmed by the sea level rise that we have already set in motion, the marginal cost of not having used those resources elsewhere will be tremendous. The civil engineering and debt nexus embodied by most state departments of transportation will spring into action exactly when it doesn't matter, when it can't possibly change the outcome.
It is, right now, time to plan our retreat from the coasts. Sustainability and resilience efforts have to start with an assessment of the long-term livability of a place given what we do already know. We know 6 feet of sea level rise is inevitable. To fight that is not rational. Even in places ultimately doomed to be consumed by the sea, short-term changes do matter. They matter intensely because they will benefit everyone everywhere. In those same coastal areas, short term changes that cut carbon emissions still make sense. The sooner these painful choices are made, the better the outcomes for everyone.
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