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Standing on the sidewalk in Manhattan’s financial district in the shadows of glass skyscrapers, it is easy to forget how close you are to the water. But just a few blocks away, there are docks, and sea gulls, and ferry boats ready to take you island hopping.
South Manhattan, image by Townie (CC BY-SA 2.0)
When Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, New Yorkers were forced to confront their proximity to the ocean. The storm surge inundated neighborhoods throughout the city.
Floodwaters at Hugh L. Carey Tunnel during Hurricane Sandy, image by Jay Fine (CC BY 2.0)
Seawater poured into the streets, flooding out apartment buildings and filling the subway tunnels. As the waters rose, the distinction between low and high ground suddenly became very apparent. As Paul Greenberg, author of American Catch, explains that “nothing acquaints you with your city’s topography like living it in the eye of a hurricane and feeling that water flow up and rise up and start to swallow the city.”
Flooded Avenue C in the East Village, image by David Shankbone (CC BY 3.0)
Hurricane Sandy took the lives of over 100 people in the United States and caused around 50 billion dollars in damages. And the devastation it caused can be traced in part to global warming. Scientists have calculated that 83,000 more people were flooded out because of sea level rise than would have been otherwise. And pretty quickly politicians began talking about climate change.
Looking north from FDR Drive in the Lower East Side, image by Beth Carey (CC BY 2.0)
“There is a wake up call here and there is a lesson to be learned” said governor Andrew Cuomo in the aftermath of the storm. “There is a reality that has existed for a long time that we have been blind to, and that is climate change, extreme weather, and our vulnerability to it. It’s undeniable that the frequency of extreme weather conditions is up. So it’s going to be a rethinking [and] redesign of how we protect this metropolitan area from this increased frequency.”
Image by Proud Novice (CC BY 3.0)
Architects and engineers are considering all kinds of different ways that cities can redesign their infrastructure to prepare for climate change. There’s talk of floodgates, and massive seawalls that would stretch across the entire harbor. But Paul Greenberg says that one of the solutions for New York’s future might lie in its past.
New York was built at the mouth of the Hudson River, and that fertile estuary environment was filled with all kinds of marine life. But one creature in particular shaped the landscape: the oyster. It is estimated that trillions of oysters once surrounded New York City, filtering bacteria and acting as a natural buffer against storm surges.