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from the a-rising-tide-lifts-all-boats-but-not-so-good-for-property dept.
Michael Mishak writes that there are few places in the nation more vulnerable to rising sea levels than low-lying South Florida, a tourist and retirement mecca built on drained swampland. Yet as other coastal states and the Obama administration take aggressive measures to battle the effects of global warming, Florida's top Republican politicians are challenging the science and balking at government fixes. In Miami Beach the concern is palpable. On a recent afternoon, local businessman Scott McKenzie pulled out his iPad and flipped through photos from a 2009 storm. In one, two women kayak through knee-high water in the center of town. "This is not a future problem. It's a current problem," says Leonard Berry, a contributing author of the National Climate Assessment, which found that sea levels have risen about 8 inches in the past century. By one regional assessment, the waters off South Florida could rise another 2 feet by 2060, a scenario that would overwhelm the region's aging drainage system and taint its sources of drinking water. "It's getting to the point where some properties being bought today will probably not be able to be sold at the end of a 30-year mortgage," says Harold Wanless. "You would think responsible leaders and responsible governments would take that as a wake-up call."
Gov. Rick Scott, who is running for re-election, has worked with the Republican-controlled Legislature to dismantle Florida's fledgling climate change initiatives that were put into place by his predecessor and current opponent, Democrat Charlie Crist. "I'm not a scientist," says Scott when asked about anthropogenic global warming during a stop in Miami. Meanwhile, Miami Beach is bracing for another season of punishing tides. "We're suffering while everyone is arguing man-made or natural," says Christine Florez, president of the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association. "We should be working together to find solutions so people don't feel like they've been left on a log drifting out to sea."
(Score: 2, Interesting) by MostCynical on Monday June 09 2014, @11:42AM
Cnut discovered he was only human when the sea made him wet http://faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommerville/123/Canute%20Waves.htm [wisc.edu]
What will the denialist politicans discover about themselves, when they are wading to the office? http://www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/slrviewer [noaa.gov]
(Maybe they'll be saying "Al Gore caused this!"?)
It doesn't matter if it is man-made or "natural" change - if the sea level rises enough, who will save us from Kevin Costner? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114898/ [imdb.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 1) by gidds on Monday June 09 2014, @01:16PM
I don't know much about Canute, but somehow I doubt he was as dumb as he's often portrayed...
Which is more likely:
[sig redacted]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Monday June 09 2014, @01:22PM
Slightly bigger picture, you're only hearing that story because generations of bards got away with telling a semi-subversive story along the lines of he was a great military leader (or more likely, really lucky) but royalty is often pretty stupid. Or the semi subversive commentary along the lines of being in power doesn't mean being smart (Welcome to the USA). Or one way to show off your incredible military strength is to allow a bit of humorous satirical subversion because a truly big man is bigger than petty concerns like that.
There's a reason this kind of story pops up separately in multiple cultures (The romans and persians had similar stories, and before reddit and 4chan and the rest of the internet memes didn't spread as far and fast as they do now)
That's the "real" story of why you've heard of the story. Rather than whichever bard that told the tale having his head chopped off for treason and no one ever hearing the story again.
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Monday June 09 2014, @03:59PM
And this is the real history [wikipedia.org].
Why people in the US has this strange thing for putting its own dumbed down and false [wikipedia.org] spin on Cnut's 1000-year old political and religious (Christian) propaganda is beyond me, as Wikipedia provides references for it's well known that it was a staged event where Cnut made a deliberate mockery out of his own lack of power both as a human and as a king in order to gain religious and political approval.
Both the Romans and Persians could well have heard the news about Cnut's act a few days or weeks after it happened. While one in general has archaeological evidence that these parts of the world (north-west Europe, Mediterranean, and Persia) were connected by trade at least as far back as 3000 BC one also knows that the Vikings 4000 years later had a lot contact with the Byzantian Empire [wikipedia.org] at pretty much exactly the same time as Cnut and the North Sea Empire which probably traded all the way to Baghdad on occasion. The viking bodyguards in Byzantine was known as the Varangian [wikipedia.org] guard, and of course there's the whole Rus [wikipedia.org] (as in Russia) thing.
You might find this picture [wikipedia.org] interesting.
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by khallow on Monday June 09 2014, @07:55PM
What does the US have to do with this? It's a misunderstanding that probably has been around as long as the original story.
(Score: 2) by Yog-Yogguth on Tuesday June 10 2014, @08:28AM
Yeah maybe that's wrong, it could be circumstantial, still that's my experience. Is the dumb version used as some kind of children's story in the US? What I mean is most people wouldn't have any idea who Cnut was anyway so how come that particular piece of idiocy sticks around for a thousand years? That's like Afghanis making faked pro-Obama jokes in the year 3014.
Bite harder Ouroboros, bite! tails.boum.org/ linux USB CD secure desktop IRC *crypt tor (not endorsements (XKeyScore))
(Score: 2) by SpockLogic on Monday June 09 2014, @05:01PM
On the other hand the reptilian looking Governor Rick Scott is much dumber than his incessant adverts portray him.
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Max Hyre on Monday June 09 2014, @06:22PM
Note that VLM has the scoop [soylentnews.org] on how and why popular culture has dissed Canute.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday June 10 2014, @09:32AM
I'm sure they'll find some excuse to blame Obama...