DARPA is funding reef structures that will be colonized by corals and bivalves
wired.com
wired.com
Some people think we can just pretend we're not part of an ecosystem if we pour enough concrete. It doesn't work, it just makes everything worse. A damaged ecosystem is not just unpleasant but physically dangerous to us. A flooded coastal base will soon be the least of our concerns. We need to fix damaged ecosystems and replace destroyed ones
I like to bring up the sad example of Passenger Pigeons, since they're a species someone in North America could imagine seeing--or even having a hard time avoiding--walking around in daily life at one time, yet they disappeared relatively recently, even leaving a strange linguistic hole because many people have still heard of "Carrier" pigeons.
I never said they were, hence the word "linguistic", as opposed to something like "biological". Both were named mostly for appearances and behaviors, not rigorous phylogenetic analysis which hadn't been invented yet.
Perhaps a similar pairing might be "badgers" on each side of the Atlantic, which--like the pigeons--have some similarities in appearance and were assigned the same taxonomic family, but are certainly not "the same as" one-another.
Also the news here is that DARPA is interested in this, not that oysters protect shorelines – this has been known for some time. Thinking about climate change through the (slightly more practical) lens of national defense is a smart approach, perhaps it will bypass a lot of the B.S. involved in the discussion.
> After the storm, multiple investigations concluded that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which had designed and built the region's levees decades earlier, was responsible for the failure of the flood-control systems. However, federal courts later ruled that the Corps could not be held financially liable due to sovereign immunity in the Flood Control Act of 1928.
and
>A June 2007 report released by the American Society of Civil Engineers determined that the failures of the levees and flood walls in New Orleans were found to be primarily the result of system design and construction flaws.[41] The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had been federally mandated in the Flood Control Act of 1965 with responsibility for the conception, design, and construction of the region's flood-control system. All of the major studies in the aftermath of Katrina concluded that the USACE was responsible for the failure of the levees. This was primarily attributed to a decision to use shorter steel sheet pilings during construction in an effort to save money.
They skimped out to save money and ended up killing 1300+ people, destroying hundreds of thousands of peoples lives, and causing hundreds of billions $$ in damages.
Fuck the Army Corps of Engineers.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Katrina#Analysis_of_...
There are reasons that it took massive engineering to clear property and build upon it. There are reasons why even the dead are interred above-ground there. There are reasons why only the poorest of the poor tended to live in those threatened areas of town!
Now I'm not saying it's the fault of the poor residents for not moving or being underinsured, but it certainly ain't Uncle Sam's fault that Mother Nature eventually... found a way.
1. The whole world needs to bring petroleum burn rates down to sustainable levels (China and the USA will need to make the right choice for their grandchildren.) This doesn't mean complete elimination of petroleum fuels or chemical mining operations. Note, investors that promulgate sustainable management will cost everyone their job are just manipulative liars, and environmentalists that refuse to acknowledge there is a scientifically sound balance are just as naively idealistic.
2. There is a complex physics model that describes what's happening. The only controversial counterarguments are generally from non-scientific dubious communities with questionable political motives.
3. No one wants to admit the earth will return to normal about 50 000 years after human full/partial extinction events. Sustainable energy policy is a national security issue, as we will be living like cavemen if a cascade environmental change event hits us early.
4. The profits made from sustainable energy policy will enrich communities that make the right call. Or alternately desperation driven hostilities await those that choose to give their children a wasteland.
One can invest in technology that creates wealth, or prepare for endless conflict. As a people, we share a common future with the consequences from decisions all people have chosen today.
Be kind to yourselves, and have a fantastic day =3
Maybe that’s coincidence. There are also immense beaches in places like tofino where no such beds exist, but the beaches are huge and sandy without particularly evident erosion. They are the work of much larger tidal and current systems though, so maybe a different beast altogether.
Oysters are so much fun to harvest with kids. Throw on a mask and snorkel, grab a catch bag, and swim around looking for the perfect size for cooking over a fire on a rack. Kids are awesome at it. You can feed half a dozen people easily with half an hour in the water. It’s a bonus if there’s sea asparagus nearby. Bring some lemons and corn on the cob or something similar and it makes for an incredible evening. My best memories of this are on Cortes Island in BC. There are some magnificent oyster beds all over that island, but relatively few (especially that are safe to eat) here in Victoria.
https://www.dutchnews.nl/2018/04/75000-massive-concrete-bloc...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Oriskany#2004_%E2%80%93_ar...
I've been through Katrina, Gustav, Isaac and more and witnessed incredible damage from wind, rain and auxiliary tornadoes caused by the storm. I've seen wind pick up massive metal structures right in front of me, ball them up and toss them into the sky until they're just a speck on the horizon. I've woken up to my entire neighborhood missing parts of their roof. I nearly got taken out by a large pine tree. I've seen trees crush cars, boats, houses, you name it. Helene just ravaged several inland states and many are still without power or access to basic resources.
Yes. I've lived on FL's gulf coast for over 30 years.
> while storm surge can be seriously damaging, it's not the most dangerous part.
Storm surge is the leading cause of deaths from hurricanes. Rain-induced flooding is second.
ref: https://www.weather.gov/wrn/hurricane-hazards
> I've been through Katrina, Gustav, Isaac and more...
I've been thru two in the last three weeks. Past that I'm not sure, dozens certainly. I've also witnessed other impact areas during 3 decades of organized storm relief - most recently yesterday.
> ...and witnessed incredible damage from wind, rain and auxiliary tornadoes caused by the storm...[notes dramatic examples of damage to things]
I'm trying to pin down what you mean by "most dangerous". It doesn't seem tied to number of lives lost or the number of structures damaged. Those are from surge and flooding.
The damage you describe seems like it would be photographic and striking. Is that what you mean my most dangerous?
Immediately along the coast the storm surge is probably the most destructive as it's a wall of water that hits and then pulls everything out to sea, but once you get a few hundred feet inland, or some elevation, it's not really a problem.
Hurricane wind speeds are comparable to tornado wind speeds, except the storms are so much bigger. They will throw projectile debris at windows, and then they break the resulting change in pressure will blow out and rip the roof of a home clean off.
Then the incredible amount of rain they generate can create devastating flooding, and this can happen hundreds of miles from the coast(this is what happens in Asheville, North Carolina, and the specific geography made the flooding worse and harder to recover from since Asheville is a mountain valley river town)
[more clarification than correction] Along the US gulf coast, surge will travel miles inland thru waterways and drainage basins. When it's over, many places drain right away while some can take weeks.
Depending on the storm, an area can get multiple surges.
> Hurricane wind speeds are comparable to tornado wind speeds, except the storms are so much bigger.
[same] Inland wind risk is closely tied to wind field size and relative position to the eye's direction of travel. We're 30 min inland from the gulf. Every factor about Milton (@36h out) was a factor in our risk calc. With Helene, we didn't have to calc anything. But that weekend, we drove the 30 min to help clean/gut houses on the coast.
And to support your synopsis, I describe cat 4/5 landfalls as x hour tornadoes.
> Then the incredible amount of rain they generate can create devastating flooding, and this can happen hundreds of miles from the coast
In the mid 90s we did relief in Athens Ga (from Alberto I think). Storm remnants parked on the GA/AL border for 2 weeks. Six hundred dams broke and the river thru town became over a mile wide. We were mucking out a church on the top of a hill. A road ran from the church, down the long hill to the river. The road was lined with homes that had been fully submerged for 2 weeks.
Still sad cause the airframes can’t be replaced :(