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Should we drain the Everglades?

(rabbitcavern.substack.com)
116 points ksymph | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.212s | source
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hwc ◴[] No.45269769[source]
I used to live in this part of the country. There's an insane amount of disregard for the environment and climate. Yes, new buildings have to be reinforced against hurricanes. But they are still building new houses only a few meters above sea level, as if sea level rise wasn't already unavoidable.

And on the largest scale, there is a limit to the amount of fresh groundwater that wells along the South Florida coast can get. Once they exceed that amount, they'll be pumping brackish water seeping in from the ocean. Then they have to desalinate the brackish water.

But the last time I was there, they were still building new houses.

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deadbabe ◴[] No.45270546[source]
“a few meters above sea level” is still not sea level. That’s a good 12-15 feet to work with.
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KingMob ◴[] No.45270616[source]
Iirc, there are scientific estimates that Greenland's ice sheet alone would raise sea levels by 24 ft if it melted.

12-15 ft may really not be enough for very long.

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1. deadbabe ◴[] No.45277939[source]
So let me ask you, is a house really a product meant to last forever and ever, or should it be something that you get maybe 30-40 good years out of it and then dispose it and rebuild?

I don’t get this idea where if a building can’t stay in a spot forever, it should not be built at all. Why not build and enjoy while you can?

When the land floods it floods, you move on. Until then don’t worry about it.