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Could Miami one day house cities of floating artificial islands to literally rise above the soaring seas and effectively counteract Climate Change?
This innovative project created by nonprofit Seasteading Institute has shifted from fantasy to possibility, as the French Polynesian government has agreed to consider hosting the proposed city of floating private islands in the South Pacific, according to a recent feature in the New York Times:
Randolph Hencken, the group’s executive director, said work on the project could start in French Polynesia as early as next year, pending the results of some environmental and economic feasibility studies.
“We have a vision that we’re going to create an industry that provides floating islands to people who are threatened by rising sea levels,” Mr. Hencken said.
The group’s original founders included Peter Thiel, a billionaire investor and prominent supporter of President Trump, although Mr. Thiel is no longer donating to the institute, Mr. Hencken said.
The rough cost of this Sci-Fi-looking development that would utilize cutting-edge systems of solar power, sustainable aquaculture, and ocean-based wind farms is somewhere between $10 million and $50 million, and cover the housing of a few dozen people.
Waste management and the overall environmental impact are among the concerns, but those are dwarfed by recent projections expecting oceans to rise by five to six feet by 2100.
Considering our current president once tweeted he thought Climate Change was a hoax, those projections could become conservative unless world leaders across the globe come to grips with the fact Global Warming is not a political issue but a proven fact.
These artificial islands may or may not end up being a realistic project for Miami or even the South Pacific but the planet needs more progressive ideas like these for ways to survive rising seas, especially in South Florida, where the effects of Climate Change are already being felt.