The Climate Change Conversation No One is Having

Soon we will have to decide which communities we will save

Photo by Ryan Parker on Unsplash

In the very near future, global warming will force us to decide which communities we abandon and those we save. Millions of residents in affected areas may be the last to know if their region will win or lose the debate.

Ultimately, it may be big money that chooses. Real estate developers and insurance carriers might determine whether we keep Grand Isle or Gulfport and Savannah or Sarasota. It’s not a clear cut choice as you might imagine, but it is a decision that should be made only after considering the implications.

Rising sea levels will affect more than the lines on a map. It will likely displace metro population centers from coastal regions, interrupt the supply chain, and require an enormous outlay of funds to restore infrastructure after extreme weather events or sea-level rise.

It’s already occurring in Florida and Louisiana

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash

While entire regions may be abandoned, some places will require federal intervention to build and maintain sea walls and levees at taxpayer expense. The alternative of allowing these areas to be reclaimed by the rising waters may create a far greater crisis for the rest of the nation. The loss of our coastal communities may hamper our ability to recover from other extreme weather events further inland.

We may have to determine if it is wise to rebuild disaster prone regions only to risk further devastation from the next hurricane or flooding. Do we invest money and effort to resettle populations outside of the region and relocate infrastructure to more stable areas? Should we save any communities and simply accept our fate? As refugees flee affected areas, we can expect further destabilization of real estate markets creating more problems with housing.

And who decides which cities receive an infusion of federal funds? Who pays? More and more, it looks as if the taxpayer will pick up the tab. The public may be expected to rebuild forever because the financial risk is…