U.S. Internet infrastructure will likely be underwater in 15 Years, scientists say

[edjr 5,547]

https://weather.com/science/environment/news/2018-07-17-internet-infrastructure-underwater-rising-seas

 

 

 

Some of the key internet infrastructure in the U.S. will likely be underwater in as little as 15 years because of rising seas, scientists say.

The situation is particularly dire for internet infrastructure in New York City, Miami and Seattle, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Oregon say. The effects would likely ripple across the internet, potentially disrupting global communications.

"Most of the damage that's going to be done in the next 100 years will be done sooner than later," said Paul Barford, a UW-Madison professor of computer science and an authority on the physical internet, which includes the buried fiber optic cables, data centers, traffic exchanges and termination points that are the nerve centers, arteries and hubs of the vast global information network.

Barford noted that the results of the team's research came as a "surprise."

"The expectation was that we'd have 50 years to plan for it," he said. "We don't have 50 years."

Using a comprehensive global map of the internet's physical structure combined with projections of sea level incursion from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the scientists predict that by 2033 more than 4,000 miles of buried fiber optic cables will be underwater and more than 1,100 traffic hubs will be surrounded by water, according to the researchers.

Barford noted that "no thought was given to climate change" some 20 to 25 years ago when the infrastructure was built along long-established rights of way, typically along highways and coastlines.

(MORE: 2 Billion Could Become Climate Refugees From Rising Seas by 2100, Study Says)

While fiber optic cables are water-resistant, they are not waterproof like marine cables. The greatest vulnerability comes where the marine cables meet fiber optics at traffic hubs, or "landing points," along the coasts.

"The landing points are all going to be underwater in a short period of time," Barford said, noting that an incredible amount of data that transits the internet tends to converge on a small number of landing points in big cities like New York City, Miami and Seattle.

Barford said building sea walls to keep out storm surge and rising seas may "buy some time," but in the long run, "it's just not going to be effective."

"This is a wake-up call. We need to be thinking about how to address this issue," Burford said.

 

 

 

I am probably retiring in 20 years, can they push this back a little?

 

[Reality 2,710]

If true, I'm confident we'll figure it out.

[edjr 5,547]

If true, I'm confident we'll figure it out.

 

Wrap the wires in garbage bags.

[cyclone24 1,799]

If true, I'm confident we'll figure it out.

Doubtful. Our net neutrality deaths will have long been completed.

[drobeski 3,061]

Lift it up

[Reality 2,710]

Doubtful. Our net neutrality deaths will have long been completed.

Good point.

 

[edjr 5,547]

Lift it up

 

This is the kind of next level thinking we need.

[Baker Boy 1,477]

Is Vegas taking odds on this?

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Is Vegas taking odds on this?

No, but try offshore sites. Its not like theyll have to pay out when the internet drowns.

[Hardcore troubadour 12,589]

Looks like it's back to the newspaper on Monday morning to get fantasy stats. Dammit, just rememebered I got rid of my porn.

[edjr 5,547]

Looks like it's back to the newspaper on Monday morning to get fantasy stats. Dammit, just rememebered I got rid of my porn.

 

buy a 1 terabyte external hdd.

 

DOWNLOAD your ass off

[Hardcore troubadour 12,589]

 

buy a 1 terabyte external hdd.

 

DOWNLOAD your ass off

Done

[edjr 5,547]

Done

 

https://thepiratebay.org/

 

[NorthernVike 2,079]

Won't it all be wireless by then?

[edjr 5,547]

Won't it all be wireless by then?

 

 

yup. Shot down from satellites, like GPS

 

Why is GPS free and not Wifi

[GhostofTEK 71]

Weren't we supposed to be drowning by now?

[Patriotsfatboy1 1,432]

Much of that infrastructure is already underwater. How do you think these continents are connected.

[Cruzer 1,992]

Millennials will have done us in before then anyways.

[NorthernVike 2,079]

Millennials will have done us in before then anyways.

Truth.

[RaiderHaters Revenge 3,566]

is this on the Al Gore timescale?

[Cdub100 3,366]

Sure it will.

[tanatastic 2,061]

It won’t be.

[Frozenbeernuts 1,652]

I remember in about 1st grade, we watched a video in class about how the landfills in the world would all be filled up by like 1996 or some year close to then. Thanks public brainwashing education

[edjr 5,547]

I remember in about 1st grade, we watched a video in class about how the landfills in the world would all be filled up by like 1996 or some year close to then. Thanks public brainwashing education

 

2 landfills (dumps) in my area. Were there in the 80s

 

both have since been filled and turned into sports fields.

[Cdub100 3,366]

I remember in about 1st grade, we watched a video in class about how the landfills in the world would all be filled up by like 1996 or some year close to then. Thanks public brainwashing education

I learned all the oil would be used up by 2010.

 

Science

[Mike Honcho 4,010]

Is it cause of global warming?

[edjr 5,547]

I learned all the oil would be used up by 2010.

 

Science

 

I'm sure in 1985, if someone told you we would do most of our shopping from the internet one day, you'd have done your typical caveman laugh

[Hardcore troubadour 12,589]

Y2k. I fell for it.

[Cdub100 3,366]

 

I'm sure in 1985, if someone told you we would do most of our shopping from the internet one day, you'd have done your typical caveman laugh

I would have asked what and where is the internet

[edjr 5,547]

Y2k. I fell for it.

 

we all did.

 

it did give us this though

 

[supermike80 1,285]

 

Wrap the wires in garbage bags.

Spray them with that liquid tape they sell on tv. The one they used to fix the boat cut on half.

Easy

[supermike80 1,285]

It just seems to be any attempt to connect with John q.

 

Polar bears are dying! "Meh. We don't care"

 

Beach front property disappearing! "Meh"

 

What about the glaciers!! "Not interested "

 

Coral reefs? "No."

 

The internet. *perk*

[Big Guy 1,400]

U.S. Internet infrastructure will likely be underwater in 15 Years, scientists say

 

 

 

It's probably best

[frank 2,144]

We were supposed to be covered in killer bees years ago.

[jerryskids 5,169]

It just seems to be any attempt to connect with John q.

 

Polar bears are dying! "Meh. We don't care"

 

Beach front property disappearing! "Meh"

 

What about the glaciers!! "Not interested "

 

Coral reefs? "No."

 

The internet. *perk*

This was my thought. Another dart throw by climate alarmists.

[EternalShinyAndChrome 2,493]

We were supposed to be covered in killer bees years ago.

 

Weren't we also supposed to be weathering the next Ice Age too?

[Gladiators 1,903]

 

Weren't we also supposed to be weathering the next Ice Age too?

It is complicated guys. Just trust them.

[SenatorRock 708]

 

Al Gore predicted this was going to happen by 2014.

 

Womp womp

[ROCKFORD 134]

i hevent bought gas in over 12 years.

 

suck in, losers.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

We were supposed to be covered in killer bees years ago.

Ironically, there was also a scare that we would starve because cell phones were killing all the bees and we need them to pollinate food and all.