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Dutch plan to build a new island
I already knew that of course. *cough* </nationalistic pride> Now my first thought when reading this article was: Will this really be a good way to protect ourselves from the rising seas? Ourselves being humankind. Or, would it just be a better investment to just raise all the dikes again? Or something else?
I think it's a good idea, but then what? So we made an island so many (sea) miles from the coast, what do we do with it? Building houses there would mean you'd have to make sure that island doesn't get flooded at all and it will mean you have just moved part of the problem, protecting ourselves from the sea, further into the sea, in which case we could've just as well filled the gap between the new island and the existing coast. As for agriculture, those can be flooded once in a while, we do that already with pieces of land directly next to the rivers when they are under stress, i.e. due to melting ice in the spring.
So what do you say about a border of land around every continent?
I already knew that of course. *cough* </nationalistic pride> Now my first thought when reading this article was: Will this really be a good way to protect ourselves from the rising seas? Ourselves being humankind. Or, would it just be a better investment to just raise all the dikes again? Or something else?
I think it's a good idea, but then what? So we made an island so many (sea) miles from the coast, what do we do with it? Building houses there would mean you'd have to make sure that island doesn't get flooded at all and it will mean you have just moved part of the problem, protecting ourselves from the sea, further into the sea, in which case we could've just as well filled the gap between the new island and the existing coast. As for agriculture, those can be flooded once in a while, we do that already with pieces of land directly next to the rivers when they are under stress, i.e. due to melting ice in the spring.
So what do you say about a border of land around every continent?
Comments
Just an interesting fact: 10% of the Netherlands is reclaimed ocean.
But basically you're suggesting everyone on the entire globe should live in an environment meant for humans. Where there are no floods, vulcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, lack of water, too much sun, too much cold, etc? Good luck finding enough space to house every world citizen on land that fits those criteria. And besides, we alter our environment to make it suitable for us humans, so what if that's below sea level? Or in the middle of the desert? Or on a fault line which might destroy the city any day? We can build dikes to keep our feet dry, we can transport water to the desert, we can make buildings resistant to earthquakes. I personally think that living below sea level with just a bunch of dikes and dunes around you is easier and cheaper then making sure every building, bridge, road, gas pipe, electricity cable, etc, can withstand shocks and earthquakes.
But Sparkybuzzed, that was not my question. I asked what you thought about creating isles as a way to protect ourselves from the rising water levels
@ Eric, ehm, I wouldn't call the North Sea an ocean... And I'd say more like 25%.
@ Hungryjoe, perhaps, but I think the US as a nation won't be that stupid to not do anything if the sea levels actually rise scaringly and thus storms becoming a bigger danger for flooding results.