Ari's Planet

A little observation from the other side of the world. When I speak with folks back home (that being the USA) they sound like people observing a slowly-unfolding disaster, a train wreck. They can't turn away from the scene of carnage, the news of the latest financial mess, yet they are horrified by what they see. Here in Australia some people think the economy will tank down the road, others seem less concerned. Australia's economy is dependent on mining exports, mainly to Asia and China. When the Chinese economy slows, which it should if Americans stop buying as much Chinese goods, then the Australian economy should also slow, this excluding any other financial effects of the mortgage mess in the US. Everyone in the world seems to remember 9/11. In the US, this was the biggest blow to national perceptions that I can recall, and it was characterized in part by people staring at TVs, their images of carnage and pronouncement, iconic pictures of crowds filled with expressions of shock gathered around public televisions.

Sometimes you can hear a kind of helplessness in their voices, the train bearing down on them, defeat. It is the same voice that says "oh, global warming, isn't there nothing we can do about that?" Fortunately, there is plenty we can do. It is unfortunate that the leaders Americans appoint fail to lead them appropriately, given that we know about the problem (failure of markets, climate change), we know what we need to do to deal with the problem (better enforcement and regulation at least to start, carbon caps and reduction of emissions), we have technologies and means to implement them (such as known methods of regulation, energy efficiency). All that is lacking is the will to carry out the needed changes. A recent disaster was the near destruction of New Orleans by hurricane Katrina. The US has mostly abandoned New Orleans to the next category 5 hurricane by failing to rebuild levies to withstand such a storm. This means that the US is likely to consign other coastal cities to be overrun by the seas when sea levels rise and when storms become more frequent and more severe. All my life I have been hearing about extinctions, unsustainable practices, and now climate change. This is the great train wreck that is bearing down upon us, its cars carrying calamity greater than any humans have faced. Though we may be adrift, our eyes blinded by the carnage, we are not helpless.

Update: I read conflicting information about the levies protecting New Orleans. Hell and High Water by Joe Romm, published in 2006, said the levies were not being rebuilt to withstand severe hurricanes, and I recall reading a short article a year or two ago that said a similar thing. But the editorial Holding back the sea*, New Scientist, 6/9/2008, says that the US Army Core of Engineers claims to have significantly improved the levies and by 2011 they should be able to withstand a "100-year storm". The New Scientist article says, though. that without more extensive measures, such as restoring protective wetlands and barrier islands, New Orleans will remain vulnerable, and the increasing storm intensity may put New Orleans at further risk, and says "... the long-term prospects for New Orleans in its present form do not look good."

* This is the print title, the web-title is Editorial: What next for New Orleans?.