I love lots of those Smithsonian Museums. The Air and Space, Natural History, the west Art museum (has lots of Monet paintings), and more. And they are going to disapear in a sea of flood because you won’t spend $54000 to get an electric vehicle and give up your money and freedom
Saving History With Sandbags: Climate Change Threatens the Smithsonian
President Warren Harding’s blue silk pajamas. Muhammad Ali’s boxing gloves. The Star Spangled Banner. Scripts from the television show “M*A*S*H.”
Nearly two million irreplaceable artifacts that tell the American story are housed in the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian Institution, the biggest museum complex in the world.
Now, because of climate change, the Smithsonian stands out for another reason: Its cherished buildings are extremely vulnerable to flooding, and some could eventually be underwater.
But that land was once marsh. And as the planet warms, the buildings face two threats. Rising seas will eventually push in water from the tidal Potomac River and submerge parts of the Mall, scientists say. More immediately, increasingly heavy rainstorms threaten the museums and their priceless holdings, particularly since many are stored in basements.
At the American History Museum, water is already intruding.
It gurgles up through the floor in the basement. It finds the gaps between ground-level windows, puddling around exhibits. It sneaks into the ductwork, then meanders the building and drips onto display cases. It creeps through the ceiling in locked collection rooms, thief-like, and pools on the floor.
This is what you would expect during a Holocene warm period in a place that was always a swamp. But, really, this is rather a bit of BS, since the museum is 75 above sea level. Of course, there is the Potomac River, which isn’t rising. Sounds more like buildings that are getting older, old infrastructure that can longer stop the natural course of a swamp. The Smithsonian buildings aren’t that far from either the Potomac and the the Tidal Basin.
Scientists at the nonprofit group Climate Central expect some land around the two museums will be underwater at high tide if average global temperatures rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared with preindustrial levels. The planet has already warmed by 1.1 degrees Celsius and is on track to rise 3 degrees by 2100.
Believe it or not, D.C. still has tides, around 2.71 feet max. Can they compare this to what happened during the previous Holocene warm periods? If they could, they wouldn’t, because it would expose the complete mule fritters scaremongering.
Read: Your Fault: Climate Emergency Threatens Smithsonian Museums »