As rising seas slowly inundate the American coast, millions of people will be forced to find new ways to live with wetter cities. Though recent events like Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria brought these issues to the fore, the greatest threats posed by climate change are chronic--chronically flooded cities like Norfolk and Miami, chronically displaced communities of color along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, and chronically dysfunctional governments incapable of helping their constituencies adapt to a changing climate.
In light of this new reality, the Ian McHarg Center of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design is proud to host Jeff Goodell, contributing editor Rolling Stone, in conversation with Brian Kahn, Ellen Neises, and Billy Fleming for its inaugural event: The Water Will Come. In his new book, also entitled The Water Will Come, Goodell provides a deeply disturbing, profoundly compelling account of how rising seas are reshaping the civilized world. In praising Goodell's book, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse remarked that “Jeff's book cuts through the fossil-fuel lies, and is a warning I hope we heed while there's still time.”
Join us for a rousing discussion about how climate change is reshaping coastal communities across the globe, and how design can lead the next century of adaptation.