Some say the water level is rising by 0.05mm a year, some say 3mm a year. I've seen estimates up to 6mm a year in some areas, all caused by melting ice in the north. Whichever number u pick, the water is rising and there's nothing much you can do about it. If you have property by the sea, finish lar your land value.

When water rises, our swamps and low lying areas go underwater. Our territorial boundaries in the sea will shift. The land mass will get smaller. We might even have some new islands as high tide cuts off some land. The map of Malaysia will change. Btw this has already happened in some island nations in the South Pacific.

Does anyone know if there is a map simulator that shows how our map might look like when the water rises?

There's another side question to this.

As land gets scarce, landed property prices shoot up thru the roof. People run to high rise living. Why hasn't humans thought of moving the other way - underground or under the sea? What is stopping them... cost? Because 20 years from now, we could be paying RM2 million for a simple apartment. Would carving a hole in the hillside cost even half of that, or a plexiglass undersea 'aquarium apartment' off Pulau Ketam really cost that much?

In fact, why do you think people anywhere are reluctant to live anywhere but the surface?

Well, so many things at once ... Let me share some tots.

1) Map simulator ~~ yeah ... but you can find many videos online but not the real simulator .. unless u contact personally to some research center. here is a link you might wanna cheek out . http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/20...er_effects.html

2)underground Living !! Big Yesss .. there are pros and cons of living underground (depends on the ground / soil conditions and stats). well, Chicago is already building a city underground. you may watch the video on Discovery Channel, Mega Engineering.

Infact there are companies which are building small floating homes / towns on water surface. watch on discovery as well

but i guess why people are so reluctant to stay elsewhere because we are so much used to with the lifestyle such as ( nice roads, cafes, cars, making money, outfits, etc..). its just that we had made all these as our necessity. just an example.. ask your grandfather or father to use a PDA or a smart phone or things which they never had in past ... u will see how reluctant they are.
i remember how difficult was it for my father to change to Auto car from a Manual Car. and now he dose not like to change H/P and buy the same model and same brand once the h/p gets old or spoiled.
its just human nature.. not everyone is flexible and think out-of-box.
just my 50 cents.

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Added on May 7, 2010, 1:12 pma sea level rise simulator :
http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/20...roundup_ri.html

This post has been edited by MyHime: May 7 2010, 01:12 PM

I saw the video clip, awesome!! You need google earth with terrain info to do that kind of simulation.

I think going underground is the only choice as climate change gets worse. Too hot, too many hurricanes, havoc on the surface. The caves in Ipoh are actually not too bad. Very cool to sit in, and limestone is one of the softest rocks to cut through. If dun wanna cut through rock, undersea is the next choice, living like Spongebob.

Technology is probably not the obstacle. Cost may eventually be comparable to surface construction. As you said, its human culture. As a species we've evolved millions of years on the surface, and we probably need to evolve some more to accept living under the surface. There's also the admininstrative impossibility. How to issue land titles to an apartment underground or 30 meters underwater in South China Sea.

You're too shallow to think such a way. climate change affects the earth... land or sea. Sea water rising doesn't merely means the sea "is winning" and less and less land are livable by humans.

By starting to find ways to make undersea dwelling possible in a massive way, humans must utilise what's on the land. let's just assume in 100 years from now, living undersea is possible, we humans still needs to go aground for resources to expand the cities below the sea.

It's not human nature to live undersea. To start adapting humans for this, the efforts are highly time consuming (persuading the masses to migrate down there) , and the resources (yea.. harvested from our beloved "land", from aluminium to zinc) required are much more.

Yes, we definitely still need land to grow our crops, no question. But why can't we live under the sea and grow our food on land? We don't have to live where we grow or food right?

The dangers of above land dwelling is increasing. Climate change is one thing but what about the thinning ozone layer, co2, environmental poisoning, solar flares, volcanoes, etc.

So even though living undersea is not our nature, survival will cause us to move to a spot where we get some protection from these. Its for that reason we launch things like Kepler probes into space.

if the surface of earth becomes dangerous for humans, what makes you think we can eat the crops grown on these surfaces?

if we dont live in some places accessible to the crops, who is going to manage and harvest and transport it to the rest of the population?

also 1 terrorist attack on the shell of whatever biodome you live in = total catastrophe for all in that doe, simply because we cant survive outside of it.

Most of us can't live in the desert (too hot) but we eat dates that grow in the desert.

The same way the crops of dates and olives are managed and harvested today: A few people may have to live on site to do it.

Yes, no different than a nuclear warhead blowing up over KL. Those within range will not survive.

But humans require more than just dates to get their nutrient fix . Alot of variety of veges (and other food) must be able to be grown undersea to sustain the population.


You're comparing weapons of different magnitude

Nuclear warhead annihilation spans many kms... both undersea and on land

but in undersea, it took a small explosion to cause a leak, hence drowning the people that was unluckily living inside the part of that doomed eeer... domed area , assuming the access to other domes are quickly sealed if this happens.

back on the land, a small explosion won't cause so much damage and fatalities to the humans,compared to those living under the sea.

people can live on places where dates grow. and people can generally live in desert

Hmm... I may have put the discussion parameters wrongly. Let me try to restart.

When land shrinks due to rising water, our increasing population will push us to a tipping point. Land and properties may become so expensive we have to start looking elsewhere to live. It can be underground, undersea or in space. Its not a question of should we. Its do we have a choice when the population doubles or triples. Climate change and geological events will make surface life uncomfortable, yes, but that may not be the thing that eventually pushes us underground. My bet is we will be pushed down by economics - the day when the normal householder can no longer afford land prices and surface living. There's simply not enough land to build any more houses on.

Yes, people can grow where dates grow but if we have 12 billion people on a land mass shrunk by rising seas, we would have to decide. Would it be date trees or high rises?

Yes living underground, undersea or in space will have risks. Accidents will happen and people will die. Scientists are spending a lot of money looking at space colonization but compared to what they're spending on Mars exploration, they don't seem too interested to explore large scale undersea or underground habitats. I have to wonder why.

So other than the disadvantages that were already pointed out, what is stopping man from looking underground or undersea to live?

and the counter is, should the situation of earth deteriorate to the point where humans need to compete with their food for living space, underground/undersea cities will not save you. you are more or less doomed long before that happens. so dont let it deteriorate to that level

How so?