World’s First Floating City to Combat Rising Sea Levels – EcoWatch
Article Synopsis – Sea level rise is an increasing threat to low-lying island nations around the world. Many islands in French Polynesia could lose their coastlines or even disappear due to global warming. In an effort to adapt to climate change, French Polynesian government officials have partnered with San Francisco’s Seasteading Institute to jumpstart the development of the world’s first self-sufficient floating city. The seastead will consist of innovative floating platforms and will utilize renewable energy resources. The next step is for the French Polynesian government and the Seasteading Institute to establish a legal structure for these “seazones” to have a “special governing framework” by the end of 2017. Site-specific environmental studies and economic impact studies will also need to be conducted.
My Comment – While floating cities are an intriguing idea, and a good example of the kind of innovative thinking that we need to start doing on a larger-scale, it is not a feasible “solution” to sea level rise on a broad scale. Floating houses and floating cities are very expensive, especially when you factor in the necessary infrastructure to run a city. They are also vulnerable to storms. They may work for small, affluent populations, or endangered island nations, but will not be practical for the hundreds of millions of people that will be displaced by sea level rise, such as Miami, Mumbai, Bangladesh, etc. Real adaptation to sea level rise must be intelligent. To read the actual article click here.