The Water Is Coming: How Rising Seas and Sinking Cities Are Reshaping the Modern World

david canford: This book is about the effect rising sea levels are going to have. Although the book focuses mainly on the USA and in particular Miami, the author describes what is happening and likely to happen in Venice, Lagos, and the Marshall Islands. Where I hear you say? Where the US did many atomic tests, it seems. They’re raising the island they use as a military base to keep the sea out but not where the islanders live. It also seems that the world’s largest naval base in Norfolk, Virginia may have to be moved. However, Congress has apparently prohibited the military from planning for climate change. How Alice in Wonderland is that? I guess so long as politicians are bankrolled by the likes of the Koch family and big oil and gas, they’ll insist it’s all a hoax, although you’d think they'd care about the legacy they’re leaving for their grandchildren. The book is quite short and I was sorry when it ended.

United Kingdom on Sep 17, 2023

RK: Goodell is a very reliable climate reporter who tells his story with a combination of urgency and restraint. Urgency because he is tell a story of incoming disaster, but restraint because he sticks with the facts, is receptive to solutions, and avoids purple prose. He also possesses a fine capacity to track down the individual story that brings a crisis to life.

Canada on Sep 10, 2023

mishmish: A wonderful book on the future of our planet as the seas steadily rise. With multiple examples from all over the world, the author paints a realistic picture of the coastal cities and islands most at risk and the problems that arise today and will in the future.
The subject, of course, is frightening but has to be faced by governments and people today. Although realistic and science based, the book is not dry. On the contrary it held me from page to page and was absolutely convincing.

France on Aug 17, 2023

M R G: This is a disturbing look into sea level rise and its current and future effects. Most disturbing of all is the documented willful ignorance displayed by politicians and developers, which are likely to lead to the deep crises suggested here and elsewhere.

Mostly matter of fact and dry, the author paints an all too believable scenario in the epilogue of what will come if we sit back and do nothing.

Primarily concerned with the effects of climate change on water levels, as suggested by the title, the other consequences of climate change are skimmed over. The water alone provides enough problems for one book.

United States on Aug 15, 2023

Anthony G. Ross: The book is very well written and thoroughly researched. However, the warning is not new. J.C. Ballard wrote the first warning in the 1960s with his novel "The Drowned World."

United States on Jul 24, 2023

Amazon Customer: Nice hardcover book, bought as a gift for my dad.

United States on Jul 24, 2023

Myredc6: Impressed with real life examples and independent discussions with noted professionals. Global coverage of the impact of the rising sea level.

United States on Jul 11, 2023

Danny Cote: A not so enigmatic title for a book that gives real examples of how things will change in the near future, especially worrying if you live in Florida…

France on Jun 28, 2023

Bethany Patchin Crandell: If you read one book on our climate cancer, this is a great one. Jeff is a gifted writer, researcher, and interviewer, and all his talents combine into a highly readable, deeply thoughtful book. I was the most moved when he described pulling over to write down the name of the man in Louisiana sending out a cry for help on NPR, in order to contact him and make his story and predicament known. His interview with Obama is also worth the price of admission. (“There’s gonna be adaptations that have to be made and there are gonna be displacements.” Ah, the clarity!)

Things that stood out: the number of times scientists said, about recent events, things like “we couldn’t have predicted this” - it makes me wonder what is else is coming, much sooner than most people (even scientists) realize.

There were few to no mentions of sewage solutions in any city but Miami, probably because they’re the first city already dealing with it. Just sea walls. Where is the poop going to go? Is Manhattan going to engineer impervious poop shafts like the Channel Tunnel? MIT Tech Journal published an article in December 2021 stating that outside of hydrological circles, nobody is...

United States on Jan 17, 2022

tissaphernes: This is compelling reading! We bury our heads in the sand at our peril! Nations go on fighting and threatening one another when, surely, our greatest enemy is climate change - and our biggest challenge what we do about it. This book really demonstrates the enormity of the challenges that lie ahead for mankind in the forthcoming century. We need to act now, not just in relation to countries and cities being flooded out of existence, but on how we tackle potential lack of food, resultant immigration, and a host of other key issues. When you begin to evaluate these matters your head swims and you wonder how your children and children’s children will ever be able to come to terms with the changes, and survive. Excellent!

United Kingdom on May 31, 2021