Description
Melting ice sheets and warming oceans are causing the seas to rise. By the end of this century, hundreds of millions of people living at low elevations along coasts will be forced to retreat to higher and safer ground. Because of sea-level rise, major storms will inundate areas farther inland and will lay waste to critical infrastructure, such as water-treatment and energy facilities, creating vast, irreversible pollution by decimating landfills and toxic-waste sites. This big-picture, policy-oriented book explains in gripping terms what rising oceans will do to coastal cities and the drastic actions we must take now to remove vulnerable populations.
The authors detail specific threats faced by Miami, New Orleans, New York, and Amsterdam. Aware of the overwhelming social, political, and economic challenges that would accompany effective action, they consider the burden to the taxpayer and the logistics of moving landmarks and infrastructure, including toxic-waste sites. They also show readers the alternative: thousands of environmental refugees, with no legitimate means to regain what they have lost. The authors conclude with effective approaches for addressing climate-change denialism and powerful arguments for reforming U.S. federal coastal management policies.
Author: Orrin H. Pilkey, Linda Pilkey-Jarvis, Keith C. Pilkey
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 11/28/2017
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.60d
ISBN13: 9780231168458
ISBN10: 0231168454
BISAC Categories:
- Science | Global Warming & Climate Change
- Political Science | Public Policy | Environmental Policy
- Science | Environmental Science (see also Chemistry | Environmental)
About the Author
Orrin H. Pilkey is James B. Duke Professor Emeritus, Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences, at Duke University. His books include A Celebration of the World's Barrier Islands and Useless Arithmetic: Why Environmental Scientists Can't Predict the Future.