Hi my name is Nazneen Chowdhury and i just read the New York times article, New York Is Lagging as Seas and Risks Rise, Critics Warn. In this article it talks about whether or not New York city is prepared for sea levels rising and flooding due to storms. A lot of people can argue that New York city is not yet prepared for such impact and the progress is taking forever. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's administration are expanding wetlands to accommodate surging tides, installing green roofs to absorb rainwater and prodding property owners to move boilers out of flood-prone basements, but is it enough? If flooding were to occur, it can paralyze our whole transportation system which can lead to the loss of billions of dollars. During the time of Hurricane Irene, 370,000 people were ordered to evacuate as well as New York city's subway systems being shut down. Hurricane Irene did not hit us as hard as we thought but if it did then it could have been really bad. A lot of researchers and engineers believe the best option would be to create sea gates that can close during a storm and prevent water surges. In Douglas Hill's words "They lack a sense of urgency about this". Douglas Hill is one among the many who want sea gates being built. He believes, instead of planning to be flooded, New York City should prevent the flooding in whatever necessary means it takes. Sea levels have been rising roughly an inch a decade in New York City over the last century. This pretty much means that within a few more years flooding can become more frequent and even the littlest storms can flood the city. New York city is taking a few steps and incorporating flood protecting measures in certain projects. In Brooklyn, porous riprap rock and a soft edge of salt-resistant grass have been laid in to help absorb the impact of a storm surge. Consolidated Edison have already spent about 24 million dollars since 2007 in raising submersible switches and moving high-voltage transformers above ground level. Discussions on barriers to be built to block sea tides have been going on for a while. To build tide blocks will cost roughly 10 billion dollars. There are more talks on how to protect the subway system. New York City still has not come up with a set plan on how to stop flooding.
Jim Gordon left a comment regarding this New York times article stating that we should really start using clean and renewable energy. He mentions "Spending billions of dollars to build sea gates without an Apollo like effort to stem the flow of carbon pollution currently accelerating rising sea levels, warming oceans and more intense an frequent storms is like treating the symptoms without curing the disease". He is technically saying we are trying to prevent floods in New York City but what about the main problem that is causing the rise of sea levels so rapidly and these torturous storms. The main problem should be looked at first before we start settling for anything else. And that main problem is global warming!!