Let it Flood!

I found an interesting map today that I found intriguing. It is a map showing the possible loss of land that a sea level rise could cause. Running from zero to 14 meters (about 46 feet, a meter is 39 1/3 inches long). I found that by zooming in, I could follow the extent of flooding.

To my surprise, A great majority of the United States would not be affected. Some major shipping ports would be inundated, but many of these locations already have buffers against storm surge, so the actual effects would be minimized. Some coastal cities would be covered.

But what caught my interest especially is the number of areas, mainly pleasure resorts of the rich and famous, that would be lost.

Goodbye, Martha's Vinyard. The Kennedy's would have to find a new compound. Bye-bye, Southern Florida. No more hanging chads in Palm Beach, since there would be no Palm Beach, west or otherwise.

Goodbye, New Orleans; in fact, much of lower Louisiana and quite a bit of the Gulf Coast. And while South-east Houston would be covered, most would survive.

And last, but most significant, quite a bit of San Francisco would be soggy. Enough, perhaps, to drop the population there below the magic 200,000 number, which would eliminate Nancy Pelosi's 8th District.

So, while in general I think a rise in sea levels should be avoided, this last convinces me that there is indeed cause for hope and change. After all, as some scientists like to tell us, it was only after the disappearance of the big dinosaurs that the little people - I mean mammals - thrived.

Time to add some carbon to the atmosphere!

http://flood.firetree.net/