Image: BC Govt. / Flickr / Sumas Prairie during the November 2021 flooding

By Doug Collins

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Environmental catastrophes are getting closer!

May 28, 2023 | 5:30 AM

If you have had your head in the sand the past few years, or are stupid enough to listen to the conspiracy theorists, you are probably unaware of just how quickly we are heading for environmental disaster. And that’s no theory. It’s totally based on fact. Not Donald Trump fact, but the real deal. We’re talking Jack Webb facts. In the old TV show “Dragnet” Sergeant Joe Friday’s mantra was “Just the facts, Ma’am.”

With all the pollution, global warming, wildfire and flooding dangers, the destruction of our oceans and agricultural lands, it astounds me to hear big business continue to tell us that everything is okay.

Here’s the latest. New York is sinking! That’s right. Geological studies released in the past couple of weeks show one of the world’s major cities is actually sinking. The weight of the skyscrapers being constructed is literally causing a small drop every year. That sinking, combined with rising sea levels due to climate change, could put the 8 million residents at increased risk of future flooding.

It doesn’t sound like a lot, but 1-2 millimetres a year adds up quickly in the larger historical picture. But parts of New York, like Lower Manhattan, are sinking at almost 3 millimetres a year. That will eventually cause seismic shifts of epic proportions.

By 2050, sea levels are expected to rise by eight to 30 inches, depending on how much the world limits greenhouse gas emissions. The weight of all the buildings in New York is 842 trillion tons. And further exacerbating the problem is the soil underneath, which varies considerably in its makeup.

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If you can’t see the reality of the potential disaster, you are probably a lost cause. I worry too much about everything- my family and my boss will confirm that. But putting that aside, and simply using Dragnet 101, the facts are pretty evident. Every one of the world’s largest cities is facing the same potential problem. Jakarta, Indonesia, for example, is sinking at a rate several times faster than the normal rate for other cities.

We’re not at Defcon 1 yet, but we need to be vigilant and try to find ways to reverse the situation. This was the point of the study- let’s get serious and recognize the problem, and see how we’re going to address it.

Hard to imagine places like Vancouver slipping into the sea, but it could happen. (I hear New Orleans might be sinking too, but I’ve never been able to figure that one out.)

I’m Doug Collins and that’s One Man’s Opinion.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.