Week 8 – Jacob Fisher – The Future of Charleston

This week I traveled forward in time to the year 7010 to Charleston, South Carolina. To cover the question of whether global warming ‘happened’, how is happened defined, is there a quantifiable objective that you can check to say it happened? I do not think there is one or a strict set of objectives that can quantify that global warming has ‘happened’ so moving forward with what these changes do environmentally and culturally.

Extrapolating the current data on Charleston sea levels would show that the Charleston see in 2020 could be under 535ft of water if the sea levels continue to rise at their current rate. ("Flooding & Sea Level Rise Strategy", 2019) Based on that data, I would assume anyone still living in the area has found a way to breathe in water or are living above the current sea level; whether they are floating above everything from the past or have built a mountain to live on.

Watervilla IJburg 2, Amsterdam, The Netherlands [PHOTO: https://www.waterstudio.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Watervilla-ijburg-A.jpg]

There are advantages of having a floating city, further rise would not cause as much of an issue. I believe that humanity is ever adapting and will solve the current dependence on energy and commodity sources that are detrimental to the environment eventually. I hope that irreversible damage is not done in the time it takes us to solve these problems, so perhaps 5000 years in the future sea levels will have normalized and the need for a city floating on the water is not there and I would just find an advanced humanity continuing to enjoy a lovely coast.

Waterfront Park Charleston [PHOTO: https://stock.adobe.com/85321825 By, SeanPavonePhoto]

References

Flooding & Sea Level Rise Strategy. (2019, February). Retrieved April 29, 2020, from https://www.charleston-sc.gov/1981/Flooding-Sea-Level-Rise-Strategy