Easy way to settle it. Look at Hurricane Sandy and Katrina. If they had no effect on terrestrial cables, then this is probably a misplaced concern. - R. ________________________________ From: Naslund, Steve <SNaslund@medline.com> Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2018 7:10 PM To: Rod Beck; nanog@nanog.org Subject: RE: Rising sea levels are going to mess with the internet I know of tons of manholes that are continuously full of water every time I have been out to them, I am pretty sure those cables have dealt with the immersion for quite a number of years. Steven Naslund Chicago IL
I don't have a strong feeling on this matter, but it is not the average increase that matters. Every small increase in average has a multiplier effect on storm surge.
Rising hazard of storm-surge flooding<http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/10/23/1715895114> www.pnas.org The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season is one for the history books. It has blown a number of records out of the water. Harvey dumped more rain on the United States than any previous hurricane. Irma maintained the highest category 5 longer than any storm anywhere in the world. September 2017 has accumulated the most cyclone energy of any month on record in the Atlantic. Last, but not least, if early estimates of damages hold up, three of the five costliest storms in US history will have occurred this year: Harvey, Irma, and Maria (1⇓–3). The other two are Katrina and Sandy, which flooded New Orleans in 2005 and New York in 2012 (Fig. 1), respectively. A new study in PNAS by Garner et al. (4) tackles a critical and highly topical question: How will coastal flood risk change in the future on a warming Earth? They approach this question in a case study for New York, but most coastal cities in the world will be facing similar issues in the coming decades and, indeed, centuries. Fig. 1. Map of New York City floodi
Nonetheless, my guess is that the real threat is to general property close to the shore, not the terrestrial cables even though they are not waterproof (only submarine cable can handle long term immersion).
Regards,
Roderick.