Miami, the great world city, is drowning while the powers that be look away

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'd certainly agree that noone knows with certainty what the global median sea level rise will be. But you can't deny that any rise in sea levels is going to lead to more extreme storm surges, which will predominantly affect low-lying coastal regions.

Quite simply, it's short-sighted to continue building on flood plains.

[mota bhai 2,675]

A 3 foot rise in sea levels would shut down the river side park I take my daughter to every week. It's not just coastal areas. Rising sea levels will mess with our rivers as well.

That said, a 3 foot rise is unlikely to happen until well after (like a few hundred years after) she loses all interest in feeding crack corn to the ducks so I'm not sure that means much.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Here in the UK we've had record flooding for several years on the trot, in a lot of areas that don't normally get flooded. The consensus view is much the same - it's stupid to continue building into flood plains.

[mota bhai 2,675]

You used to live here years ago, do you remember hearing about a town called Bound Brook? Long story short - it always floods. It's right on the Raritan River on a spot where the river overflows its banks frequently. 1 solid day of heavy rain and their Main Street was under water.

Common sense, the way i see it, was to not invest there. Let the town die a slow death (which it was). Who in their right mind would want to invest there? Right?

Well, then Lehman happened. And then Obama was elected. And then the stimulus came.

And they used the money on a 'flood remediation' project which has kept Bound Brook flood-free for the last two years. We've had significant rain events but no flooding there.

So now they tore down an old abandoned warehouse and are building condos on it.

It's still a flood plain, of course.

But what's happening is the exact opposite of what should have happened.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If you spend enough money on any problem, you can probably fix it.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

The ocean use to come all the way to Middle Ga, back in the olden times. we use to find shark teeth in the Kaolin pits, about 180 miles inland. I suppose man made global warming made all that happen a bazllion years ago?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

If there's anything this thread doesn't need it's another tedious one-liner about global warming.

[lostinblue 1,989]

If there's anything this thread doesn't need it's another tedious one-liner about global warming.

Yet you continue

[mota bhai 2,675]

I know you are, but what am I?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I know you are, but what am I?

I'll raise you a whole compendium of comedy insults. Ever play The Secret of Monkey Island?

You fight like a Dairy Farmer!

How appropriate! You fight like a cow!

I've spoken with apes more polite than you!

I'm glad to hear you attended your family reunion!

People fall at my feet when they see me coming!

Even BEFORE they smell your breath?

I'm not going to take your insolence sitting down!

Your hemorroids are flaring up again eh?

I once owned a dog that was smarter than you.

He must have taught you everything you know.

Have you stopped wearing diapers yet?

Why? Did you want to borrow one?

There are no words for how disgusting you are.

Yes there are. You just never learned them.

You make me want to puke.

You make me think somebody already did.

My handkerchief will wipe up your blood!

So you got that job as janitor, after all.

I got this scar on my face during a mighty struggle!

I hope now you've learned to stop picking your nose.

I've heard you are a contemptible sneak.

Too bad no one's ever heard of YOU at all.

You're no match for my brains, you poor fool.

I'd be in real trouble if you ever used them.

You have the manners of a beggar.

I wanted to make sure you'd feel comfortable with me.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Hail Ming!

[mota bhai 2,675]

I have actually seen variations of some of those used online...

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I have actually seen variations of some of those used online...

No doubt.

[rlogan 2,036]

Sorry, mistook you for someone that actually cared.

But thanks for the "..... implement whatever measures are necessary to minimise the negative Impacts....." as I see you have found the answer for all of the worlds problems.

This is the crux of the cocktail-party environmentalist phony.

You don't really care, and prove so by knowing absolutely nothing about whatever superficial nonsense you throw out. You don't expect people to actually look into anything. You just expect pats on the back and a chorus of "yeah they should do something"...

So when someone spends the trifling effort to look up what south Florida is doing for flood remediation you get all defensive and attack them for being CRAZY. How dare you do anything except tell me what a model citizen I am for pretending to care?! You ask them questions and then attack them for answering. Shame on you for not playing my game.

So it is the utter hypocrisy that gets me: the person who is pretending to care more than other people actually spends all his time on image-management. Google could get you ten times the amount of information in half the time you spend on manipulating people's perception of you as someone who cares.

[rlogan 2,036]

You used to live here years ago, do you remember hearing about a town called Bound Brook? Long story short - it always floods. It's right on the Raritan River on a spot where the river overflows its banks frequently. 1 solid day of heavy rain and their Main Street was under water.

Common sense, the way i see it, was to not invest there. Let the town die a slow death (which it was). Who in their right mind would want to invest there? Right?

Well, then Lehman happened. And then Obama was elected. And then the stimulus came.

And they used the money on a 'flood remediation' project which has kept Bound Brook flood-free for the last two years. We've had significant rain events but no flooding there.

So now they tore down an old abandoned warehouse and are building condos on it.

It's still a flood plain, of course.

But what's happening is the exact opposite of what should have happened.

Tell that to the Netherlands who have land more than 15 feet below sea level that they have reclaimed. Tell that to port cities that understand the commerce from that location vastly outweighs the flooding problem that can be contained with sound engineering.

It is not "common sense" to mindlessly avoid all the benefits of floodplains. It is common sense to look at both the benefits and costs, making sound judgments about how to maximize those benefits in the least costly way. Here again is the cocktail-party environmentalist mindset that tries to force us into being nonsensical. They show how utterly ignorant they are of basic history.

The Egyptians amassed an enormous empire based upon the agricultural wealth that the regular flooding of the Nile provided. Instead of running away like little girls and shrieking about floods they studied the problem professionally and turned it to their advantage. I mention them because we are talking about more than five thousand years of human history here with spectacular success that even little school children know about with the pyramids and all...

Yet the would-be cocktail party environmentalist wants to "prove how much he knows" by saying it is "common sense" to go against thousands of years in proven history and make blanket statements about avoiding the benefits of floodplains. Sure, costs can outweigh benefits. But in a lot of cases that is untrue by 10:1 margins. True enough that thousands of years later people are marveling at how smart you were to farm, build upon, and manage floodplains.

[mota bhai 2,675]

The Egyptians did not build condos on the flood plains. They used the land for agriculture. Very different use.