The New York Staten Island is building a new 5.3-mile seawall to protect itself from the climate crisis come 2025.
CNN reports that coastal engineers are thinking of ways to reduce the massive impact of the climate crisis, developing structures to protect its vulnerable coastlines.
The move to build the seawalls at this time is considered as an investment. According to the Center for Climate Integrity, the estimated cost to protect coastal communities for the next 20 years is at $400 billion, hence, US can save a lot of money by building these seawalls today.
According to Tayanah O’Donnell, ANU senior lecturer, “Where you have these public and private interests colliding in a contested space, like the coast, that faces ordinary weather events being compounded by climate change, people will look for a solution that gives them as much security as they can hope to achieve.”
For experts like O’Donnell, the cost for building this new seawall is high, considering that the structure will eventually move and change due to tidal flows. In addition to this, maintenance is costly because it needs regular upkeep to ensure that the structure will stay in place.
However, given that the construction and maintenance are costly, the government is still pushing through with this project because it can protect the land and properties, come to a massive calamity.
Meanwhile, coaster engineers are believed to have developed a new design that would allow marine life to thrive and survive in man-made structures.
Staten Island in New York approximately has over half a million population. Experts believe that with a seawall built in place, a number of people can be protected from property damages and physical injuries.
In 2012, the deadly Hurricane Sandy wiped off properties and killed dozens of people, amounting to $7 billion in damages.
