[ExI] Hurricane-proof building

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of
BillK via extropy-chat

>>... This winter, when the green energy alternatives prove inadequate, 
> perhaps most of Europe will be asking: What's so terrible about global
warming?
>
> spike
> _______________________________________________


>...I don't think you are going to get people voting for more hurricanes.
:) ...
The cost and time required to reinforce buildings means that our cities will
not be able to withstand hurricanes for many years, if ever.
Best to try and minimize hurricanes as much as possible.


BillK
_______________________________________________


BillK it isn't necessarily voting.  Over time we are recognizing that we may
not be able to do anything about the climate.  Perhaps you recall the 1970s,
when the debate between the global warming crowd and the ice age crowd began
to tilt toward the former (we all breathed a big sigh of relief (warming we
can deal, cooling not so much.))

Then in about the 1990s, we began to hear messages about how drastic action
was needed immediately or it would be too late.  Dates were set, and
deadline after deadline came and went.  Well, OK then.  Most of the
deadlines are in the past, some by a decade or more.  When do we declare it
is too late to stop global warming?  Then start dealing with the anticipated
results?

Further reasoning: regardless of what the already-mostly-deindustrialized
USA does and the largely deindustrialized Europe does, we still only have
two major categories of prime movers: hydrocarbon combustion and nuclear.
The renewables are intermittent, expensive and inherently limited, falling
water is already utilized.  It is combustion and nuclear.  Combustion is
easier and faster to build.  China, India and Africa will not stop burning
coal and oil until every last lump and barrel is gone.  The western world,
which has grown rich burning coal, gas and oil, cannot stop this.  Note that
I am not advocating this course, but rather recognizing where we are.

At some point perhaps we say as a species: OK we tried, we failed.  Now we
deal with the consequences.  But it is not hopeless.  We can pull back from
the existing coastlines, build our infrastructure right this time.

spike