from the Kaua’i-is-actually-paying-attention-to-science-… dept.
Mayor Derek S. K. Kawakami signed into law a proactive bill that amends construction design standards to incorporate expected sea level rise impacts – making Kaua'i one of the first counties in the nation to enact development regulations based on scientific modeling projections.
[...] Kaua'i is no stranger to the impacts of climate change, as we've seen in the floods of 2018 and the recent historic south swell and king tides in July which resulted in significant infrastructure damage," Maor Kawakami said. "This new ordinance ensures that the inevitable effects of coastal erosion and flooding are determining factors in the future growth and development of our island."
[...] The ordinance requires the lowest floor of all new residential construction, and substantial residential construction improvements, to be elevated two feet above the highest sea level rise flood elevation. It also requires all new non-residential construction, and substantial non-residential improvements, to be elevated at least one foot above the highest sea level rise flood elevation.
[...] Fletcher said the United Nations' latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports say with high confidence that sea level rise will persist for "centuries to millennia" due to ongoing warming of the oceans and melting of the ice sheets.
"There is nothing we can do to stop sea level rise," Fletcher said "This measure will minimize the threat to public health and safety, promote resilient planning and design and minimize the expenditure of public money for costly flood control projects necessitated by accelerating sea level rise. Kaua'i is providing an example for coastal communities around the nation of the next right step in building community resiliency to climate change impacts."
(Score: 1) by Peristaltic on Friday October 21 2022, @11:33PM (11 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2022, @02:14AM (5 children)
Using the worst case scenarios (from 2018 modeling), about a half a foot [hawaii.gov], with about a meter by the year 2100.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2022, @02:15AM
Forgot to mention, from page vi of that report.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by zocalo on Saturday October 22 2022, @07:53AM (3 children)
Coastal/riverside properties are nice and all but, really, if you're in the market for buying some property these days I'd be looking for one built on good solid bedrock, located some way inland (which doesn't necessarily preclude a sea view, if that's your thing), and elevated at least a few meters above a nice large drainage basin.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday October 22 2022, @01:37PM
>two feet
Weak sauce. This is Kauai the volcanic mountainous island with high elevations all over the place, right?
Two feet is deep within the margins of error, and developers are only looking for development work, not long lasting products - if everything gets wiped out in 50 years, then their developer successors will have a whole new round of work developing the next level up.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday October 22 2022, @01:42PM
>if you're in the market for buying some property these days I'd be looking for one built on good solid bedrock, located some way inland (which doesn't necessarily preclude a sea view, if that's your thing), and elevated at least a few meters above a nice large drainage basin.
When Miami was first developed, the sea captains built their houses on a coral ridge standing some 3-4 meters above sea level facing Biscayne Bay - basically the highest point on the coast for tens, perhaps hundreds of miles around. Ever since, successive developments were built on successively less and less desirable lands, resorting to dredging mud up from the bay (making nifty boat canals in the process), and running bulk housing out into the swamps of the everglades. I believe it is like this most places: if you want a house on the best location, look for the earliest developments in the area and buy there - tear the old house down if you have to, but you're not going to find much if any undeveloped land in the best locations near any cities that have been growing for a few decades or more.
🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by legont on Sunday October 23 2022, @01:58AM
Just reflex on high, middle, and low class. It refers not to moneys, but to heights over water; especially in UK
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2022, @08:51AM (2 children)
Based on past experience, the “expected” rate is far higher than the actual rate will be.
Remember, the Maldives were supposed to be under water by now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2022, @09:05PM (1 child)
No, I don't remember, but they are doing a lot of land reclamation work and planning, and building sea walls [theguardian.com] over there.
Are you suggesting this change to the building code is not needed or is a bad idea? When it comes to these kind of things, isn't "plan for the worst and hope for the best" prudent, especially if the design and financial implications are not significant?
(Score: 2) by legont on Sunday October 23 2022, @02:08AM
A good idea would be to move population from coastal and desert areas. Yeas, I am looking at NY, California and such.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bradley13 on Saturday October 22 2022, @10:44AM (1 child)
Realistically? It will continue at the current rate of about 3mm/year, so 30mm or a bit over an inch. Anyone claiming significantly higher figures is just scare-mongering.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 22 2022, @09:12PM
I would have thought with all the feedbacks and nonlinearities in the system, as well as the expectations and projections that fossil fuel burning will continue to increase in magnitude year over year in the coming decades, that the whole thing wouldn't end up being linear like that. But you've made a very compelling case and you've convinced me!
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Sunday October 23 2022, @09:30AM
You would think the kind of people buying property in Kauaʻi in areas "prone to sea level rise" would have already factored in these considerations if they thought it was a real issue.
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