Sea Level Rise

2018 was the fourth hottest year on record. One of the results of this phenomenon is that the melted icecaps produce enough water that the oceans rose and warmed up dramatically. This warming results in changes in ocean temperatures…which then causes intense extreme-weather events. These include hurricanes, floods, droughts and wildfires. According to scientists, 2018 was the first time on record when wildfires exceeded average hurricane costs in the US.

It doesn’t take long before we also wonder about all that extra water. Where does it go? UP!

If one looks at a global map, one will notice that most trade and manufacturing centers throughout time have grown on the edges of water, seas and rivers (that flow to the seas). Metropolitan centers around the world are wrestling with their futures. What will they look like?

My ‘Sea Level Rise’ imagines just such a city with older buildings, evidence of financial growth, some European influences, high-rise office and apartment buildings, religious centers, perhaps. Buildings flooded. Livelihoods lost. Populations removed.

Irreversibility indeed.