How Flooding Is Changing This World
Most people will hear in the news every so often new experts pointing out all the dangerous outcomes of climate change and the best way to solve them. But as these experts are talking, the tolls are already taking effect. Everywhere, there are floods, and everywhere there is destruction.
OK, flooding, thinking about it, isn’t anything new, so why talk about it at all? Well, because around the world, in Europe and China, these disasters have risen. At this very moment, there could be cars, trucks, and entire buildings getting torn down by a mad rampage, a massive current roaring down the street. There are many videos with the debris getting crushed as they crash into bridges. Professor Tigger, who is studying all this, says: “It’s like it’s all made of tinfoil, getting crumpled by the slightest bump.” Some incidents make you have goosebumps, like the incident of the subway in Henan that happened just a few days ago. It was just a weekday, with everyone going home. But suddenly, the subways the people were in started getting flooded. The water was seeping in, and soon, people found themselves trapped waist high in the water. And that’s not even the worst part. Remember that this is all happening on a subway train? These trains’ mostly sealed, so as the water rises, the air is scarce. And with hundreds of people on the train, there isn’t enough air, which means some will lose consciousness, losing control, and eventually fall into the water, where they could drown.
So what is causing all of this? Yes, the answer is indeed rain, lots and lots of rain. That causes overflow of rivers and the filling of drain pipes. Then, when the flood water has nowhere to go, it starts to sweep through the streets. OK, that’s a clear enough reason. But if you think about it, what causes the rain? It couldn’t cause itself! According to Professor Tigger, it’s the same with all natural disasters. “The main guy who’s pulling strings is actually, and always, climate change, more specifically, global warming. It goes something like this. First, cars and other machinery burn fossil fuels, producing carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide causes the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide kinds of traps heat in the atmosphere. It’s like a closed room with all its curtains open, letting in sunlight, trapping the warmth and making it hot, very hot. And since it’s so hot, a big block of ice on the table is melting! That’s what’s happening on Earth. The increased temperature causes ice to melt. That ice, now water, gets added to the oceans. So what to do? Close the curtains and open the windows, of course! On Earth, that means changing to greener energy fuels and getting rid of fossil fuel burning. That’s now like a global goal, with net-zero campaigns and stuff. But even though companies and countries alike are setting deadlines for themselves, it’s a long-term project. However, there are also ways to decrease the short-term outcomes of these floods, with a plan that I call the Sloping Program.”
“It’s a climate-based city building plan that, theoretically, can make flooding not only less dangerous but even beneficial. As its name suggests, it’s about making a city’s entire plan out sloping towards one particular direction. In theory, that would cause the water to drain towards the lower end due to gravity. And that means that a flood could get diverted. As for the lower end of that city, designers should build a big pool to collect all that water. After some slight filtration, the water could get directed for other uses, like watering crops through another water system or channeling into fountains. And if the flooding is severe, extra water could get pumped back out into the sea. So that makes all this water reusable.”
Do you like this “Sloping Program?” Or do you think there could be improvements? In truth, in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, there’s already a park, Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, using this method. Or do you think there are other ways of decreasing floodwater? Share your ideas with the world, and with everyone’s support and help, maybe we could do this task. That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you, and don’t let these floods wash away your ideas.