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| Troubles Rising |
Human civilization in general rejected renewable energy long ago, when it was utterly abundant, universal, and so cheap it was almost free.
The context now is: a global danger.
The question, then, is "what can culture / civilization (not individuals) do about that?" since culture / civilization rejected natural, renewable energy long ago --without our collective and our individual input.
Was anyone reading this asked about it back in 1750 when the Industrial
No.
The reactionary question now should be: "can this civilization, this culture, go back to the natural renewable energy of the natural Earth that once existed?"
That natural, renewable energy has always existed for humans, so those who now try to make something new, something that has existed since before civilization, are missing something (it isn't imagination).
The at-one-time most-quoted-historian was neither optimistic nor pessimistic when he wrote:
"In other words, a society does not ever die 'from natural causes', but always dies from suicide or murder --- and nearly always from the former, as this chapter has shown."(The Authoritarianism of Climate Change, quoting "A Study of History", by Arnold J.Toynbe). He was simply being historical.
Further, the question even becomes "can this civilization go back to natural renewable energy" rather than the question "is it possible in the abstract?"
Why is this civilization (the Anthropocine, purveyors of the ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction) more able than the others before it?
How are we more ecologically adept than those which historian Toynbee studied then wrote about.
Those that committed suicide or were murdered?
We all tend to think that "anything is possible" in the abstract, but we are not in the abstract folks.
Neither is civilization (Civilization Is Now On Suicide Watch, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).
II. Seaport Civilization Faces Itself
I have wondered if we should go back to a renewable ocean first (Why Sea Level Rise May Be The Greatest Threat To Civilization, 2, 3, 4, 5).
How is that going, assuming civilization is preparing for the future:
The majority of seaports around the world are unprepared for the potentially damaging impacts of climate change in the coming century, according to a new Stanford University study.(Stanford News). So, why is that relevant?
For one thing, we are like the long gone Phoenician civilization (The Extinction of Robust Sea Ports, 2, 3, 4, 5).
Since most of our seaports are unprepared, then our civilization is mostly unprepared:
Container-laden ships traverse countless supply chains from continent to continent, a method of transportation that accounts for more than 90 percent of the world trade by volume.(Smithsonian). Do you or I, as individuals, feel ok when we are mostly unprepared for something?
Regardless, since civilization is a group, not an individual, civilization must be prepared if it is to feel comfortable.
III. Some Sea Level Rise Graphs of Some Unprepared Seaports
I will list a few Dredd Blog Zones (see Zone In On Sea Level Change for a description of zones).
Graphs of sea level change in that zone will also be listed.
The following zones have various numbers of seaports within the zone boundaries.
Each seaport has a world ranking, in terms of volume of container trade.
These all have PSMSL tide gauge stations which began keeping sea level records in the 1800s within the zone boundary:
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| Shanghai, China: rank=1 Busan, S. Korea, rank=5 Qingdao Gang, China, rank=7 Taicang, China, rank=42 Gwangyang Hang, S. Korea, rank=63 Incheon, S. Korea, rank=65 |
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| Rotterdam, Netherlands: rank=11 Antwerp, Belguim, rank=16 Felixstowe, U.K., rank=37 Port of Le Havre, FR, rank=59 Bruges, Belguim, rank=70 |
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| Hamburg, Germany: rank=15 Bremen, Germany, rank=23 |
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New York City, U.S.A.: rank=26 |
IV. Conclusion
As you can see, each zone tends to have its own sea level rise which impacts upon different seaports.
Thus, each one has to be analyzed, repaired, moved, modified, or abandoned based on conditions in that zone.
Videos below show the rather intensive construction problems facing each different area.
The previous post in this series is here.