Am I the only one who wonders whether it makes sense to build a third $ 0.5 billion sports stadium in an area that by the end of the century (if not sooner) could easily be flooded on a regular basis by the simultaneous occurrence of sea level rise + a major storm-generated low pressure storm surges and flooding on the Green-Duwamish River, not to mention the effects of occasional King Tides? Under such conditions the Green River would also backwater upstream back up as far as Kent, which is protected by rinky-dink levees that the mayor and her pro-business cronies are dead set against setting back to improve flood conveyance. When Howard Hanson Dam was originally designed in the late 50s and early 60s it was thought to have the capacity to hold back a 500-year flood. Using modern methods of hydrologic modelling (which don’t even take into account the potential for increased frequency of devastating storms and flooding in the future as the atmosphere heats up), the dam’s actual storage capacity has been found to be only enough to contain the 140 year flood. The Red Queen-like mayor of Kent says–no problem, the Corps can build another Green River dam and/or raise the height of the existing dam–as if these projects, which would cost hundreds of $millions, could be done by waving a magic wand.

Here in Seattle we’re also poised to spend up to a $billion on the seawall and the osmetic makeover of the waterfront as if this part of downtown will somehow be magically exempt from the effects of rising sea levels in the current century and beyond.

We go to great lengths to preserve and restore historic buildings, but at the same time build stuff, e.g., the new towers being built across the parking lot from the Hawks stadium, that may not be accessible except by boat in hundred years because of future sea level rise. Ignoring these realities is much more politically palatable to politicians at all levels of government. That is why the United States hasn’t even signed let alone ratified the Law of the Sea convention (which took place from 1973 through 1982), let alone the Kyoto Protocol and subsequent climate treaties.

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Mike