Climate Adaptation: Rising Tides in Coastal Cities

The world is already witnessing the effects of climate change. One inescapable and irreversible consequence is sea-level rise, which could destroy coastal cities. How will the world adapt to rising tides?

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Host
  • Gabrielle Sierra
    Director, Podcasting
Credits

Asher Ross - Supervising Producer

Markus Zakaria - Audio Producer and Sound Designer

Rafaela Siewert - Associate Podcast Producer

Episode Guests
  • Alice C. Hill
    David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment
  • Klaus Jacob
    Geophysicist and Emeritus Research Professor, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
  • Henk Ovink
    Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Netherlands
  • Gernot Wagner
    Climate Economist, Columbia Business School

Show Notes

For decades, the conversation on climate change focused on mitigation. But its counterpart, adaptation, is coming to the fore as people begin to feel the effects of climate change. One of the most significant adaptation challenges is sea-level rise, which threatens millions of people globally. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report writes that there is a “brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all.” Why It Matters investigates ways to deal with higher waters and other challenges ahead. 

 

From Guests 

 

Alice C. Hill, The Fight for Climate After COVID-19

 

Alice C. Hill, “The Trouble With Climate Adaptation,” NOEMA

 

Klaus Jacob, “How can we mitigate the flood risks to subway systems?,” World Economic Forum

 

Lilah Raptopoulos, “Are we safe? Of course not’: climate scientist’s NYC warning after Sandy,” Guardian

 

Henk Ovink, “It Starts with a Trickle: Valuing water better can spur sustainable development and climate action,” OECD Forum Network

 

Flood control lessons from the Dutch; Frequency of wildfires in Alaska,” NPR

 

Interview: Henk Ovink is determined to tackle water challenges in Asia,” Nextblue

 

Gernot Wagner, The Cost to Reach Net Zero By 2050 Is Actually a Bargain,” Bloomberg

 

Gernot Wagner, Geoengineering: The Gamble 

 

Gernot Wagner, “How I Greened My Prewar Apartment (It Wasn’t Easy),” Curbed

 

From CFR 

 

Anshu Siripurapu, Thamine Nayeem, and Michael Kohler, “What More Investment Could Mean for U.S. Infrastructure

 

Andrew Chatzky and Anshu Siripurapu, “Envisioning a Green New Deal: A Global Comparison

 

Claire Felter and Kali Robinson, “Water Stress: A Global Problem That’s Getting Worse

 

Lindsay Maizland, “China’s Fight Against Climate Change and Environmental Degradation

 

Mohamed Adow, “The Climate Debt,” Foreign Affairs

 

Kelly Sims Gallagher, “The Coming Carbon Tsunami,” Foreign Affairs 

 

Read More

 

Climate Change Is Harming the Planet Faster Than We Can Adapt, U.N. Warns,” New York Times 

 

Michael Kimmelman, “What Does It Mean to Save a Neighborhood?,” New York Times 

 

Angela Chen, “NYC mayor has a $10 billion plan to protect Manhattan from rising seas,” Verge

 

Oliver Wainwright, “Bjarke Ingels on the New York Dryline: ‘We think of it as the love-child of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs’,” Guardian

 

Thomas Frank, “After a $14-Billion Upgrade, New Orleans’ Levees Are Sinking,” Scientific American

 

Francis Wilkinson, “The Jersey Shore Is Sinking. Do We Want to Save It?,” Bloomberg 

 

Haritha John, “On India’s Kerala coast, a man-made solution exacerbates a natural problem,” Mongabay

 

Helen Roxburgh, “China’s ‘sponge cities’ are turning streets green to combat flooding,” Guardian

 

Elizabeth Rush, Rising, Dispatches from the New American Shore

 

ClimateWire, “How the Dutch Make "Room for the River" by Redesigning Cities,” Scientific American

 

Sand Motor – building with nature solution to improve coastal protection along Delfland coast (the Netherlands), Climate Adapt 

 

Watch and Listen

 

Will New York Be Underwater by 2050?,” Real Engineering

 

Why The Netherlands Isn’t Under Water,” Real Engineering

 

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