Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
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32 S politics and governance<br />
A third implication <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> long emergency is that government<br />
will be required <strong>to</strong> take unprecedented measures <strong>to</strong> relocate people<br />
displaced by drought, s<strong>to</strong>rms, and continuously rising sea levels.<br />
A sizeable fraction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> U.S. population now lives within 100 miles<br />
<strong>of</strong> a coast and is <strong>the</strong>refore vulnerable <strong>to</strong> both increased severity<br />
<strong>of</strong> s<strong>to</strong>rms and rising sea levels. Hurricanes Katrina (in 2005) and<br />
Ike (in 2008) preview what lies ahead as larger and probably more<br />
frequent s<strong>to</strong>rms batter coasts. The scientifi c evidence cited above<br />
indicates that ice in Greenland and Antarctica is melting much<br />
more rapidly than previously thought. As a result, sea levels will<br />
eventually inundate coasts worldwide, including U.S. cities such<br />
as New Orleans, Miami, Charles<strong>to</strong>n, Washing<strong>to</strong>n, Baltimore, New<br />
York, and Bos<strong>to</strong>n. We may choose <strong>to</strong> protect some with dikes, but<br />
that will be hugely expensive and probably doomed <strong>to</strong> failure if<br />
global temperatures increase much beyond 2°C. In that situation,<br />
<strong>the</strong> more likely scenario is that millions <strong>of</strong> people will be forced <strong>to</strong><br />
leave <strong>the</strong>ir homes and property and move <strong>to</strong> higher ground. But<br />
it is not just <strong>the</strong> people living along coastlines who are at risk. As<br />
<strong>the</strong> mid-continent becomes hotter and drier and subject <strong>to</strong> more<br />
severe <strong>to</strong>rnadoes, s<strong>to</strong>rms, and fl oods like that <strong>of</strong> 2008 in Iowa or<br />
worse, <strong>the</strong> region will become less habitable as well. As rainfall<br />
diminishes in <strong>the</strong> Southwest, one plausible scenario is that:<br />
Businesses and families begin <strong>to</strong> abandon Phoenix, creating a<br />
Grapes <strong>of</strong> Wrath–like exodus in reverse. Long lines <strong>of</strong> vehicles<br />
clog <strong>the</strong> freeways, heading east <strong>to</strong>ward <strong>the</strong> Mississippi and north<br />
<strong>to</strong>ward Oregon and Washing<strong>to</strong>n. Burning hot, parched, and broke,<br />
<strong>the</strong> city that rose from <strong>the</strong> ashes achieves its apogee and falls back<br />
<strong>to</strong>ward <strong>the</strong> fi re. (Powell, 2008, p. 240)<br />
In short, governments will have <strong>to</strong> relocate and house growing<br />
numbers <strong>of</strong> people. In <strong>the</strong> decades ahead, we must prepare for a<br />
future in which large s<strong>to</strong>rms, fl ood, fi re, and drought, as well as<br />
acts <strong>of</strong> terrorism, will become <strong>the</strong> norm. The capacity <strong>of</strong> emergency<br />
management will have <strong>to</strong> be made much more robust and<br />
effective, not just for intermittent events but for multiple events,