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silversparkles50's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
stevenyenzer's review against another edition
4.0
Fascinating and frightening trip around the world to see the ways in which people are dealing (and not dealing) with rising sea levels.
douglasmhale's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book. I'm from Miami area--Homestead, to be exact--which was one of the book's big case studies. But I couldn't decide what, exactly, was the purpose of this book. The author bluntly states that people unsure of or unconvinced by the reality/threat of climate change should be reading some other book. Is this work simply meant to terrify those people who are already convinced of climate change's dangers? The large-scale efforts needed to mitigate the devastation that Goodell anticipates are out of reach for the average citizen. This book is a simple premonition of doom.
I guess it does have one function: when I dream about a future vacation home, it's more likely to be a mountain lodge or lake cabin than a beach hut.
I guess it does have one function: when I dream about a future vacation home, it's more likely to be a mountain lodge or lake cabin than a beach hut.
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
5.0
WAKE UP!!!!
We truly do have difficulty problem solving for the future but this book is a good place to start. Lays out the issues globally and brings it home to the local present. How what we see today will impact us in the future.
Very interesting and well written.
We truly do have difficulty problem solving for the future but this book is a good place to start. Lays out the issues globally and brings it home to the local present. How what we see today will impact us in the future.
Very interesting and well written.
realityczar's review against another edition
4.0
This is good pop science. There are no real revelations, but Gooddell paints a comprehensive and effective picture of the coming disaster. The writing is crisp and illustrative and moves along nicely.
Probably we should all take the bus to work tomorrow. Or ride a bike.
Probably we should all take the bus to work tomorrow. Or ride a bike.
andrewotey's review against another edition
5.0
Tell anyone you know in Miami to leave. Visit Venice and the Maldives immediately if you want to see them. Buy property inland. Read this book.
hrgisahero's review against another edition
4.0
Really cool examination of rising oceans, the projects and initiatives in some of the most industrialized Western countries to counter that. There were some nods to the already disappearing land on some Pacific islands but I think that’s another topic that should be covered by someone elsewhere in its own book.
erikinthedistrict's review against another edition
5.0
F***ing terrifying look at what is going to happen to coastal cities in the near future. Especially in light of Hurricane Florence.
robthereader's review against another edition
5.0
For context, I gifted this book to my parents to give them an idea of the application of my work as a structural engineering consultant who specializes in inland navigation, port and shore protection projects. After my dad finished it, he gave it back to me with the remark that its a depressing read. After I just completed reading it, I can concur but for the the moments when Goodell gives hope to the innovation and adaptation of mankind.
Goodell frames this piece of scientific journalism against what all of us must accept is the existential crisis of our time, climate change, and in particular sea level rise. A combination of his connections as a reputable scientific journalist and his tenacity in finding where the story is being told takes him on a globetrotting adventure to place as far flung as Greenland, Nigeria and Micronesia among others with a cast of experts, stakeholders and policy makers that includes none other than President Obama. However, its his focus on Miami that draws the most inspection as he earmarks it as the first Great American city to witness the full gambit of challenges from a rapidly approaching ocean that could make it the next Atlantis. He spends several chapters on it, detailing its rise with shoddy construction and real estate manipulation to its current state of speculative construction and political manipulation as well as its unequal treatment of those who can not afford sea walls.
Throughout the novel he gives several pieces of information and summarization that were new to me. For example, he notes the predicament of how cities such as Venice and towns such as Tom’s Harbor, NJ must grapple with mitigating tidal flooding while also not discouraging investment and driving out their tax base for risk of them going broke. Also, he makes several remarks on how in some ways the lesser off of the world are more inclined to be adaptable so they will brave some aspects better than the rich albeit by in large the poor will suffer more and many will become climate refuges.
Finally, the one lesson that resonated the most was that no matter what we do, the sea will continue to rise. Hopefully its rate of rise can be slowed but it will rise and we must plan to both retreat methodically if possible and learn to live with our new coastlines if we are to come out of this crisis with not just limited damage compared to what it could be but also with hopefully a more equitable and cognizant future.
A must read for all and especially for my friends who are engineers working on ways to tackle climate change.
Goodell frames this piece of scientific journalism against what all of us must accept is the existential crisis of our time, climate change, and in particular sea level rise. A combination of his connections as a reputable scientific journalist and his tenacity in finding where the story is being told takes him on a globetrotting adventure to place as far flung as Greenland, Nigeria and Micronesia among others with a cast of experts, stakeholders and policy makers that includes none other than President Obama. However, its his focus on Miami that draws the most inspection as he earmarks it as the first Great American city to witness the full gambit of challenges from a rapidly approaching ocean that could make it the next Atlantis. He spends several chapters on it, detailing its rise with shoddy construction and real estate manipulation to its current state of speculative construction and political manipulation as well as its unequal treatment of those who can not afford sea walls.
Throughout the novel he gives several pieces of information and summarization that were new to me. For example, he notes the predicament of how cities such as Venice and towns such as Tom’s Harbor, NJ must grapple with mitigating tidal flooding while also not discouraging investment and driving out their tax base for risk of them going broke. Also, he makes several remarks on how in some ways the lesser off of the world are more inclined to be adaptable so they will brave some aspects better than the rich albeit by in large the poor will suffer more and many will become climate refuges.
Finally, the one lesson that resonated the most was that no matter what we do, the sea will continue to rise. Hopefully its rate of rise can be slowed but it will rise and we must plan to both retreat methodically if possible and learn to live with our new coastlines if we are to come out of this crisis with not just limited damage compared to what it could be but also with hopefully a more equitable and cognizant future.
A must read for all and especially for my friends who are engineers working on ways to tackle climate change.
sammcdougall's review against another edition
5.0
As John Green said... this is a non-fiction book that reads like a thriller.
An eye-opening read about what is yet to come. Confronting, terrifying and wholesome. I particularly liked the discussion around the ownership of land and houses when they are engulfed by sea... the largest purchase of most people’s lives will suddenly be worthless and unsellable.
An eye-opening read about what is yet to come. Confronting, terrifying and wholesome. I particularly liked the discussion around the ownership of land and houses when they are engulfed by sea... the largest purchase of most people’s lives will suddenly be worthless and unsellable.