That's the idea of award-winning Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut. He's designed what he calls "Lilypad cities". Basically they are giant, man-made islands that could house up to 50,000 people. Each lilypad features three artificial hills with an artificial lake in the middle that will collect and filter rain water. It’s part of a plan to make the lilypads energy self-sufficient. They will use solar, wind and tidal forces to generate power.
And the lilypad cities don't have to worry about rising seas - they are designed to float.
Whether anyone ever builds Callebaut's lilypads remains to be seen, but the problem they address is one very real to some low-lying island nations in the Pacific Ocean. Recently the president of Kiribati, an island nation in the South Pacific, said the end might be in sight for his country. With an average height of six feet, Kiribati is already feeling the effects of rising ocean levels. And it’s not alone. In addition to island nations, costal countries like Bangladesh could lose large stretches of coastline, making millions of people refugees in the process.
So while the ocean takes their homes, it may also provide them with new ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment