Collaborative World Building: US after a global flood!
- Thread starter geK0
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Lets see, random things that might be useful for your setting.
An industry of aquatic salvagers becomes common. Teams with boats and diving equipment attempt to locate and recover useful items from the submerged cities, and bring them back to sell to the surviving communities.
If the flooding happened slowly (a persistent, ever rising tide), then there would be serious population density problems, as everyone fought to achieve higher ground, creating overcrowding issues. If flooding happened quickly, then a small amount of people would have survived to populate the area.
Weather would likely be significantly more violent, as the amount of coastal land, compared to inland territory is higher. Likely have more frequent storms as well. All of those tropical storms/hurricanes that get cooked up out in the ocean, and hit land, will be more dangerous, as they will likely be strong enough to move inland pretty much anywhere on that map. I live in north Alabama, and hurricanes that come nowhere near our state, if they are big enough, will still send tendrils of nasty thunderstorms our way, and even further north. Seriously, the tendril arms of a hurricane can stretch very far inland in comparison to the actual place the storm hits. And considering how little "inland" land there is now, this will likely become a serious concern no matter where you live in the surviving areas.
Depending on how long after the flood you are placing your story/game, the old cultures would start to become myth/legend in the minds of the survivors. Facts would start to melt and merge with lies and rumors, forming mutated parodies of the stuff we know today. There would also probably be a bit of bigotry on the part of the people who lived in those areas originally, against all of the people who were forced into the area by the floods. There is some precedence for this in the Katrina/New Orleans issue. Many of the people who were relocated after Katrina, met with hostility and friction from the communities they were suddenly placed in. Not all of them sure, but plenty of places talked about how the people from Katrina were just riding the federal dollar, and not bothering to try and rebuild their lives. Something similar would likely happen in your world.
Depending on how cataclysmic the flood was, and how fast, there might be entire communities of ships that were just fine when things went bad. For example, the various naval fleets of the world governments are usually kept at sea, sailing around for the majority of their time. Deep sea ships would suffer no ill effects from the water rising, as they wouldn't even notice it really. This might cause various groups of vessels to become a new military/government force in an area. Basically taking over through sheer military might, and setting up shop as the rulers of that area. In fact, you might want to seriously consider the fact that the navies of most countries would likely be untouched by this cataclysm, and be fully functional, in a world mostly covered by water, they would have significant dominance just about anywhere.
International communication/trade would likely stop entirely (at least for a time), and would survive on a smaller scale. Shipping vessels would of course have dominance this area. Types of foods available would drastically change, as most of the people wouldn't have access to the wide variety of foods from all the shipping trade. Most people would probably try and keep all food locally now for themselves, instead of exporting it.
There will be a Cult of TOOL, who worship the band as prophets of the coming flood, and their daily song of worship is Aenima. (This is mostly in jest, but hey, there are weirder religions out there right now) In case you don't know the song I'm talking about...
Might be NSFW, been a while since I've seen the video so can't remember. The cults chant will be like "Fire it Up!" from the Crow, but instead it shall be "Learn to Swim!"
Let's see, what else. Oh, speaking of cults, there would likely be a resurgence of worship for water based gods, like Poseidon and others. The Loa would probably become very popular, as, if I recall correctly, their underworld for the dead is underwater, so...yeah. I might be wrong on that point, not too knowledgable about the Loa.
Yeah, I think that's enough for now. Need to finish some work stuff. Hope that helps you.
An industry of aquatic salvagers becomes common. Teams with boats and diving equipment attempt to locate and recover useful items from the submerged cities, and bring them back to sell to the surviving communities.
If the flooding happened slowly (a persistent, ever rising tide), then there would be serious population density problems, as everyone fought to achieve higher ground, creating overcrowding issues. If flooding happened quickly, then a small amount of people would have survived to populate the area.
Weather would likely be significantly more violent, as the amount of coastal land, compared to inland territory is higher. Likely have more frequent storms as well. All of those tropical storms/hurricanes that get cooked up out in the ocean, and hit land, will be more dangerous, as they will likely be strong enough to move inland pretty much anywhere on that map. I live in north Alabama, and hurricanes that come nowhere near our state, if they are big enough, will still send tendrils of nasty thunderstorms our way, and even further north. Seriously, the tendril arms of a hurricane can stretch very far inland in comparison to the actual place the storm hits. And considering how little "inland" land there is now, this will likely become a serious concern no matter where you live in the surviving areas.
Depending on how long after the flood you are placing your story/game, the old cultures would start to become myth/legend in the minds of the survivors. Facts would start to melt and merge with lies and rumors, forming mutated parodies of the stuff we know today. There would also probably be a bit of bigotry on the part of the people who lived in those areas originally, against all of the people who were forced into the area by the floods. There is some precedence for this in the Katrina/New Orleans issue. Many of the people who were relocated after Katrina, met with hostility and friction from the communities they were suddenly placed in. Not all of them sure, but plenty of places talked about how the people from Katrina were just riding the federal dollar, and not bothering to try and rebuild their lives. Something similar would likely happen in your world.
Depending on how cataclysmic the flood was, and how fast, there might be entire communities of ships that were just fine when things went bad. For example, the various naval fleets of the world governments are usually kept at sea, sailing around for the majority of their time. Deep sea ships would suffer no ill effects from the water rising, as they wouldn't even notice it really. This might cause various groups of vessels to become a new military/government force in an area. Basically taking over through sheer military might, and setting up shop as the rulers of that area. In fact, you might want to seriously consider the fact that the navies of most countries would likely be untouched by this cataclysm, and be fully functional, in a world mostly covered by water, they would have significant dominance just about anywhere.
International communication/trade would likely stop entirely (at least for a time), and would survive on a smaller scale. Shipping vessels would of course have dominance this area. Types of foods available would drastically change, as most of the people wouldn't have access to the wide variety of foods from all the shipping trade. Most people would probably try and keep all food locally now for themselves, instead of exporting it.
There will be a Cult of TOOL, who worship the band as prophets of the coming flood, and their daily song of worship is Aenima. (This is mostly in jest, but hey, there are weirder religions out there right now) In case you don't know the song I'm talking about...
Might be NSFW, been a while since I've seen the video so can't remember. The cults chant will be like "Fire it Up!" from the Crow, but instead it shall be "Learn to Swim!"
Let's see, what else. Oh, speaking of cults, there would likely be a resurgence of worship for water based gods, like Poseidon and others. The Loa would probably become very popular, as, if I recall correctly, their underworld for the dead is underwater, so...yeah. I might be wrong on that point, not too knowledgable about the Loa.
Yeah, I think that's enough for now. Need to finish some work stuff. Hope that helps you.
Uhh... it's a bit dicey but it looks like San Antonio in Texas might survive. Parts of it atleast, more if you pull back some of the flooding. There's a few army and air force bases there too, like Lackland and Randolph and Fort Sam Houston. A big military presence in general, really. It's called Military City for a reason.
I wonder if my house would turn into beach front property...
I wonder if my house would turn into beach front property...
The degree of flooding that you are talking about makes engineering flood defences impractical. It's a higher level of engineering than to reclaim entire the North Sea not just a few areas just below sea level near the Dutch coast. A 200m increase in sea level is huge, the North Sea has an average depth of 90m.geK0 said:
ooooo good stuff!Happyninja42 said:
Salvaging is definitely something I was going to use, I was going to have certain technologies which are lost, nuclear power and weaponry being a big one, as will be satellite technology; I haven't decided what else though.
I thought about weather a lot, but I'm not sure exactly how extreme I want to make it. Tornadoes and hurricanes will definitely be a big part of this world.
I was definitely playing around a little bit with cultures. I actually have one city named "New Sparta" which actually has a giant pit used for capital punishment. The world will be ripe with pop culture references and historical influences.
Navies were going to be a big part of the world; some communities will be entirely made of floating platforms and will old ships to pull them around and protect them.
Communications will be reduced to communal intranets instead of one large internet, microwave communication towers will be used in favor of satellite communications.
Trade will be difficult because piracy would be rampant with all these naval factions around. I figure the occasional trade ship will come from over seas and people will be impressed by the affluent dark skinned merchants who have all these interesting technologies (there's a bit of a reversal of power lol)
Cults are a great idea! I don't think I'll use tool, but I did just think of a cult who worships famous scientists and treats astrophysics as a religion.
Well anywhere 20 meters and under would try to protect itself, or at least in that area where such a hight of water depth is believed to be what will be the end resultgeK0 said:
One question though, how high is the water level supposed to reach? Because if all the ice in the world melted, sea levels would only rise about 65 meters. Still a massive change which would see billions effected and whole cities and countries under water, but nothing nearly as dramatic as and of the images presented.
That was something I was trying to figure out but every elevation map I could find only shows in intervals of 100 meters. The one I had was just a quick recolor of a height map I found. 65 meters though? maybe Ill go with 60. Maybe I can use some bs phenomenon that would flood the earth more (sim earth had ice meteors) I haven't quite decided. I could also just go ahead and flood as I will because it is fiction after all.Zontar said:
I figure there might be some higher elevation places that could be salvageable. I also had this concept of a giant wall being built around Washington DC to make this giant bowl city (completely unrealistic I know). I figured it'd be cool to have this big fortress town which is the last remaining bastion of the US government, I was going to call it "Patriot's Refuge".albino boo said:
Well, I used to draw maps like that when I was a teen - continents with a 100 m sea rise. So I have a pretty good idea of what it'll look like. "Fun".
And even if one assume there isn't enough ice to go up to 100 m, we have to keep in mind that the real kicker isn't the ice that's melted - I'm not even sure it'd be enough to go up to 50 m. The main cause of rise in sea level is that the volume of water expands when it heats (minimum volume being close to 4 C).
And even if one assume there isn't enough ice to go up to 100 m, we have to keep in mind that the real kicker isn't the ice that's melted - I'm not even sure it'd be enough to go up to 50 m. The main cause of rise in sea level is that the volume of water expands when it heats (minimum volume being close to 4 C).
The trick is, this can only be realistic if you have an idea how high the sea will rise. Otherwise, you're just going to build a dam that's going to be flooded 10 years in. Or the other way around, if rise is slow, people aren't going to spend tens of billions building dams at places they're not sure sea will ever come - would be stupid to have that huge 200 km dam up there when the sea doesn't even come close.Zontar said:
The United States will have survived with it's back-up capital in Denver, although they would possibly be only able to control the immediate rocky mountains/great divide area on the Western landmass when most their assets have been washed away. That said, a lot has survived the flood, so the US would still be able to pull itself by it's boot straps and march onward. The Eastern landmass on the Appalachians will be where most new settlements and states will arise, with the added possibility of conflict with the Denver-US over territory. Conflict will probably arise among the members of the Denver-US over autonomy rights, so it'll exist more as a confederation than a federation. The idea that Vegas would become a powerhouse is nice, but you'll have to face the realities of the area- expansion north is pretty f*cked, but expansion to the Colorado is possible.
Now, Texas is unlikely to break off as it's own thing. Most of the population lives in the flooded region, and whilst their would be no doubt a migration into the Edwards plateau, it's unlikely that they'll fair much better without help. Warlords and strongmen would be the most common people in this situation, with the people running and overseeing the migrations becoming the leaders of these groups, and given how the Government would be the ones running the show to get people out the death zone, these Strongmen will have ties in Denver.
A boat community is a more interesting reality, especially in larger cities with skyscrapers. With floating suburbs built around these skyscrapers if they are not submerged, you could see these existing. Places such as New York, Las Angeles, and Chicago are going to experience a second life.
Desert states will eventually form the crop belts. New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and what's left of California and Texas will become valuable assets to the warlords and strongmen of the Denver-US. expansion South into the now diversifying Chihuahuan Desert, and into the now warmer North, will be sought. Civil Wars between these strongmen will happen, and will hinder the Denver-US, such as Reno and Vegas over Nevada. Military and Navy will be weaker due to infighting, meaning that the Appalachian republics will flourish.
Now, Texas is unlikely to break off as it's own thing. Most of the population lives in the flooded region, and whilst their would be no doubt a migration into the Edwards plateau, it's unlikely that they'll fair much better without help. Warlords and strongmen would be the most common people in this situation, with the people running and overseeing the migrations becoming the leaders of these groups, and given how the Government would be the ones running the show to get people out the death zone, these Strongmen will have ties in Denver.
A boat community is a more interesting reality, especially in larger cities with skyscrapers. With floating suburbs built around these skyscrapers if they are not submerged, you could see these existing. Places such as New York, Las Angeles, and Chicago are going to experience a second life.
Desert states will eventually form the crop belts. New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and what's left of California and Texas will become valuable assets to the warlords and strongmen of the Denver-US. expansion South into the now diversifying Chihuahuan Desert, and into the now warmer North, will be sought. Civil Wars between these strongmen will happen, and will hinder the Denver-US, such as Reno and Vegas over Nevada. Military and Navy will be weaker due to infighting, meaning that the Appalachian republics will flourish.
Well, it's often very counter-intuitive what will last and what won't. A lot of nuclear powered stuff is made of the long term, you could well keep nuclear reactors going for decades (IIRC, this is the case with nuclear powered submarines, there's no maintenance on the nuclear bits, set it up right and it works for decades). Likewise, nuclear weapons will last...fusion weapons maybe not so well, but they require a fission device to get the fusion reaction, and that will still work. IIRC, aviation fuel has a fairly limited lifespan.geK0 said:
OTOH, guns will work fine for ages. US troops in Afghanistan came under fire from stuff the British left behind over a century ago.
Getting a satellite into orbit might not be possible anymore, but existing ones would last for some time. Failing that, there are lots of submarine cables around. Long range communications have been possible for over a century because of them.
Well...you don't have piracy unless there is trade around. You also need fairly impressive industry to repair and maintain modern warships, and they'd outmatch pirates using civilian vessels. As an aside, the last battleship was finished in 1945, IIRC, and the last one decomissioned only a few years ago. Battleship were in service for generations, though I think this was more due to symbolism more than them being that useful.geK0 said:
Someone else mentioned resettlement after Katrina, which is a good point, but I'd go a lot further. Much more likely to be what Mexicans face crossing the border into the US, only the people saying "kill 'em all" don't have any government to stop them and they have practice in killing. For that matter, anyone that happens to look foreign can be lumped in. Actually, I'd say social change is the big one to remember, you've dialed the clock back 100-200 years on social progress.
You still need fresh water for drinking. There is a reason why settlements are near freshwater sources. Look at every major city in the world and you will find them on rivers.geK0 said:
Nuclear reactors need refueling every 20 years or so and neutron bombardment will cause the pipe work to go brittle after 50 years of operation. Thermo nuclear weapons have a shelf life of 30 years or so. The Fusion part will decay into neutron absorbers. After that, instead of warheads with yields in the 200kt - 500 kt range, you get weapons with yields of less than 10k, or smaller than Nagasaki or Hiroshima.thaluikhain said:
