Preparation, or Conservation

As many know, hurricane Sandy hit last week, and has caused billions and billions of dollars of damage to the east coast. This is the first time I've ever heard anybody use the term "Superstorm" in my life to describe a natural disaster. It surprised me that despite being one of the most developed countries in the world, this natural even caused unprecedented destruction and panic. Many fear of what is to come in terms of natural disasters, which is the subject of an article I read from the New York Times, called "Protecting New York City, Before Next Time". In the article it states:

"...climate experts say, sea levels in the region have not only gradually increased, but are also likely to get higher as time goes by..."

This means that it's only getting easier for places along the coast of the Atlantic ocean like New York City to be flooded in the future. The main reason for water levels rising is thought to be global warming, which many scientists have claimed is preventable. New York City, however, doesn't seem to be trying to prevent high water levels, it's preparing for them.

“Our goal was to design a more resilient city,” Mr. Cassell said. “We may not always be able to keep the water out, so we wanted to improve the edges and the streets of the city to deal with flooding in a more robust way.”

Already, people's plans are turning away from conservation and more towards preparation. So what is the plan to save Manhattan from flood waters?

"ringing Lower Manhattan with a grassy network of land-based parks accompanied by watery patches of wetlands and tidal salt marshes...through a series of breakwater islands made of geo-textile tubes and covered with marine plantings."

While it's an interesting thought to see New York having preventative swamps, I think that the moment we saw Global Warming coming, we should have worked to prevent it, rather than riding it out and paying the price now. Not only will it be expensive to terraform New York, but the idea itself may or may not work. What do you think? Is there still time to cut back gas emissions and pollution so that we don't have to pay the price later?