England's Thames Barrier is the world's second-largest (after the Oosterscheldekering in the Netherlands) set of movable floodgates. About 10 miles downriver from central London, the barrier has been in place since 1982 to keep storm surges from overwhelming the city, prompted by the North Sea Flood of 1953, which killed 307 people. The threat of flooding has increased over the years thanks to rising water levels—about eight inches in the last century—and the “tilting” of Britain caused by post-glacial rebound. Plans call for raising the height of the gates 12 inches.
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Since the Netherlands is built on a delta of three major European rivers, the Border Meuse—named after one of three rivers—will widen river channels and restore natural habitat to decrease the risk of flooding from once in 50 years to once in 250 years. Scheduled for completion in 2017, the Border project represents a shift from fighting the waters to giving them space to flow more freely by lowering its banks and floodplain, thereby widening the channel. The project will ultimately involve moving 80 million tons of soil.
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In Malaysia, the Kuala Lumpur SMART tunnel solves two problems: traffic congestion during rush hour and flash flooding. Construction on the multifunctional underground thoroughfare, six miles long, began in 2003, and it opened in 2007. In addition to being the longest stormwater tunnel in Southeast Asia, and second-longest in Asia, it also incorporates a 2.49-mile double-deck motorway within it, and has prevented at least seven potentially disastrous flash floods in the city center, according to the New Straits Times.
U.S. Highway 1, which runs along the coastal cliffs of California and is celebrated for featuring some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, will be rerouted so as not to end up in the Pacific. Already, the road is routinely washed out by storm surges and falling cliff rocks including back in March, when a famously scenic stretch of the highway south of Carmel had to be shut down following a destructive landslide, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
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Standing 200 feet tall, making it the world's 23rd-tallest traditional lighthouse, the famous Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on the Outer Banks of North Carolina was moved 2,879 feet inland in 2000 due to coastal erosion. Locals protested the move because they thought it would potentially damage the structure and even filed suit to prevent it, but it was later dismissed. After being rededicated in 2000, the lighthouse is fully open—undamaged—to the public. That being said, an encroaching Atlantic means that miles of shoreline and beaches along the Eastern Seaboard could be underwater by 2100.
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The effect of global climate change is so dramatic upon the Inupiat Eskimo village of Shishmaref, on the island of Sarichef near the Arctic Circle in Alaska that houses are falling into the sea. Rising temperatures have resulted in the melting of sea ice, which served to protect the village from storm surges. Also, the village is built on permafrost, which has started to melt, resulting in the shore eroding at an alarming rate. Not only has Shishmaref raised funds to erect seawalls to protect the shoreline, but the village also has plans to move several miles south, at a reported cost of $180 million.
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