Thursday, September 18, 2014

Flood Risk in Washington, DC

With climate changes occurring in the world today, many cities and countries are at risk. Buildings, Houses and other structures will become destroyed unless we can help the environment and control these floodwaters.

By 2050, 7 billion dollars of land in Washington, DC will be underwater due to climate changes. Three MIlitary Bases and the National Mall will be underwater unless we can stop these changes and change the environment for the better. However, these warnings are not new as there have been predictions that Houston could become the next Venice and force millions of citizens in lower-lying countries like Bangladesh out of there homes. In a worst case scenario, in about 100 years, both the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials could be islands in a flooded potomac. “The monument area and mall are in some ways the soul of Washington DC, to see them flood would leave an emotional, physical, and cultural effect on the community,” said Ben Strauss, director of Climate Central’s Program on Sea Level Rise and the report’s lead author. These climate changes also make the US’s largest naval base in Norfolk,VA at risk as Norfolk is on the water.

In conclusion, these climate changes will become very present by 2050 unless we are able to control the potomac and help the environment. Our Nation’s capital and all the historic landmarks that are in it will be at major risk once DC starts flooding.


Posted for L. Bishop

3 comments:

  1. I think that this review was very interesting and informative. One thing that I liked was that the author of the review chose a topic that no one else has written about previously. I had never heard about the flooding of Washington DC before until reading this review. In contrast I have read lots about global warming, or the Earth’s resources. Another thing that I liked about this article was that it was easy to relate to. Washington DC is not only very close to us, but very important to us as well since it is our countries capital. Reading about all the monuments and structures that could get damaged definitely means something to all of us. The last thing I liked about this review was that it included a direct quote from the article. This is helpful because then you not only know what the reviewer thinks about the issue but also what professionals are saying about the situation. It can also give us a hint of how severe or urgent the issue is. One thing that the review could have included more of was a description of how, exactly, Washington DC will flood. All that was mentioned was that it will be due to climate changes, but that still leaves the reader questioning how that amount of rain could occur. It also would have been nice to hear whether this flooding is in just Washington DC, or whether other areas are at risk as well. If only Washington DC, then why? I found this entire review interesting, but mostly the fact that such drastic changes could happen in only 36 years. Usually we don’t think about any of these events happening in our lifetime, but as a matter of fact we are at risk. Overall, while the review could have been a bit more detailed, I enjoyed learning about the future of our climate.

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  2. I found this article review very interesting. One thing that was good was that it gave lots of information and interesting predictions. Another interesting thing in this article was that the main focus was on Washington D.C, but it told the readers that it could happen in many other places throughout the world. Another good thing about this article was that he used a quote from a scientist who was involved in this upcoming issue. My first suggestion for this article is more statistical information on why the flood is predicted. This is a very interesting article, but hard to believe without any facts to back the prediction up. Another suggestion that the author of this review could have put in a critique the article, and explain what the author of the article could have done better. I learned a lot from this article, this whole idea of cities flooding in the very near future, is an idea, or prediction that had not crossed my mind before.

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  3. I thought the topic sentence included the main topic of the paragraph. You had a quote which gave a professional view on your facts. Your body paragraph contained many facts which helped me understand your topic. One suggestion is to add a paragraph discussing the authors strength's and weakness'. Also, your main paragraph should contain more information about your topic and you should elaborate your points. I learned that by 2050, 7 billion dollars of land in Washington, D.C. will be underwater due to climate change.

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