NB: By "climaterism", we understand the discourse that focuses on the
climate to the detriment of meteorology itself (not the same scale oftime or space) and to the detriment of the multiplicity of factors
(because there is not only the "weather" - or weather in English - in
the environmental problem). ---- Heard on the "Weather-Climate Bulletin"
on France 2 on Thursday, October 24, 2024: (the announcer) "Let's now
look at the erosion of our coasts; it is true that our coastlines are
not frozen in a context of climate change; erosion is worsening because
of rising waters, (is) in particular the cause of the rise in
temperatures which expands the water in our oceans. And it is not
without consequences that this phenomenon leads to a retreat of the
coastline".
This statement seems innocuous. It is in any case mainstream and
familiar to the public's ears. But the devil is in the details, it is
not useless, for free thought and the fight against green capitalism, to
take up some elements.
Let's look at it point by point.
"Sea level": eustatism and hydrodynamics, not to be confused
"Our coastlines are not fixed". Certainly, this is an obvious
observation. This phenomenon is, for example, familiar to the
inhabitants of Aigues-Mortes whose city was located on the seaside, at
the time when the Christians went to chase the Muslims to the Holy Land
via the Crusades, and which is now six kilometers away.
It is the result of a millennium of alluvium brought by the Rhone and
its tributaries to its Camargue delta. Strictly meteorological
conditions are only one factor among others in this advance of the land.
I put aside the fact that the current evolution of the coastline in the
Camargue is complex, between advance and retreat depending on the Rhone
and the coastal drift (but such is the geographical destiny of a delta),
depending on the decades.
"Erosion is getting worse because of rising waters": this statement is
largely incomplete in its generalization since it confuses eustatism and
hydrodynamics. Eustatism refers to the variation in height of the ocean
level, while hydrodynamics refers to the phenomenon of advance of ocean
waters themselves (by swell, tides, storms, etc.).
What thinning of the beaches?
The two phenomena can be combined, but not necessarily. The evolution of
the Atlantic coastline between the Poitevin marsh and the Basque
country, for example, is largely due to the half-century-old weakening
of the sediment supply, which is retained by dams upstream on the
Garonne, the Dordogne and their tributaries.
It took half a century to realize the long-term effects of this type of
development, which can also be seen elsewhere (the Nile since the
construction of the Aswan Dam, the best-known example). This does not
mean that dams are systematically useless (floods, floods, water supply,
etc.), but not everything is due to the "climate" or the sea.
The thinning of beaches - a phenomenon well known to geographers who
work on coastlines (see the work of Roland Paskoff) - obviously favors
hydrodynamics without eustatism necessarily intervening. It can also
occur very quickly when jetties or dikes are built without respecting
the coastal drift.
As for the strictly rocky coasts in France, it is necessary to
distinguish between what is related to the sea and what is related to
geology itself. It is not certain that the rocky coast of the Estérel,
to take a region affected by heavy rainfall, is changing much.
Brest tide gauge and Celsius rock
This is "particularly due to the rise in temperatures which expands the
water in our oceans" specifies the bulletin. However, this expansion
varies according to the spaces and the seasons. It is also difficult to
observe over a long period of time, especially before the arrival of
satellite measurements.
One of the oldest tide gauges in France, that of Brest (three
centuries), does not report any extraordinary changes in sea level in
this region (thesis by Nicolas Pouvreau, 2018). Let's not talk about the
Celsius rock which shows that the level of the Baltic Sea is "going
down" (in fact, it is the Hercynian base which is "rising" by
post-glacial rebound effect), or its equivalent in Hudson Bay in Canada.
These few remarks already show the scientific weakness of this
"Weather-Climate Bulletin". But that's not all. It's even the rest which
is the most interesting. Because it is not enough to throw out words, it
is necessary to demonstrate the arguments and illustrate them with a
case study. Images to support it.
The campsite of Quiberville sur-Mer
The following report then turns to Quiberville-sur-Mer. Because "in this
small town in Normandy, an example of adaptation to climate change is
being played out (with) the relocation of a campsite to escape rising
waters, an essential project according to the mayor".
Very well, we think. But let's pay attention.
Here is what the mayor says: "If tomorrow the sea overflowed, yes, you
had a very dangerous place, and if you had floods coming from the
coastal river, it was always very dangerous, the proof in 99, it existed
sixty meters from here, and therefore a hundred caravans were floating".
The "if" is very important, and can be beneficial if we place ourselves
in a perspective of "forecasting" and therefore of "risk management".
But it is "here" very ambiguous, because it sometimes refers to a
possibility (future), sometimes to an accomplished event (past). Very
well, we will say again. The baroque use of tense concordance is
nevertheless intriguing, even putting aside the fact that it is not easy
to express oneself in a heated manner in front of a microphone and a camera.
But that is not what is at issue. Because the past event that is
supposed to give us the future in relation to the coastline has nothing
to do with it. The mayor himself says it: the campsite was in a flood
zone and if it was flooded in 1999, it was not at all because of the
sea, but because of the flooding of the river that flows into it, the
Saâne. This flood was caused by the blockage of the evacuation of its
waters because of their undersized passage under the bridge where the
coastal road passes. The waters accumulated, were pushed back and flooded.
This is practically the same phenomenon as the Limony blocked by an ice
jam on October 17 and 18 in Ardèche (except that it was not caravans
that were hit, but houses...).
The rhetoric of implication
The sea is therefore strictly not responsible for this flooding in
Quiberville, unless, indirectly, there was a high coefficient tide that
was added to slow the flow. But the report does not tell us that.
Similarly, it does not mention the famous campsite in La Faute-sur-Mer
set up in a flood zone and devastated by storm Xynthia in February 2010
(see the entry "Xynthia" in the Critical Dictionary of the Anthropocene).
Incidentally, let us underline the ambiguity of the statement which
speaks of the "moving of a campsite to escape the rising waters",
without specifying which waters are being referred to: those of the
river or those of the sea?
Except that the succession of the contents suggests that it is the sea.
Almost unstoppable manipulation, unless vigilance is exercised.
And above all, do not mention the issuing of building permits.
And biodiversity is coming
But it is not over.
The new development - widening the passage under the bridge, removal of
the campsite - has in fact two objectives: "limiting the risks of
flooding and encouraging the return of biodiversity" tells us an expert
interviewed. Biodiversity: that is to say fish that swim upstream
(salmon, sea trout), eels, vegetation.
Very well... but what is the connection with the climate, or, more
precisely, coastal erosion and sea level (the subject, let us recall, of
the Weather-Climate Bulletin of October 24)?
Weather trends can affect the evolution of ecosystems, but species live
in different environments, grow, regress, adapt according to the weather...
In reality, we mix everything up. It's the great intellectual and...
political mishmash. Because fighting "against the climate" and for
"biodiversity" is part of the same mantra. We must act, but, in the
subtext, not just any action: we need "decarbonization", therefore
promoting electricity, therefore all-electric, therefore the revival of
electro-nuclear power. This is the agenda of green capitalism.
The resilience of insurance
Am I exaggerating? Let's go back to the "if". The very next day, on
another "public service" channel, the 1pm news on France Inter, we are
treated to a complacent interview with the director of Axa-Climat. Yes,
Axa, the insurance company. And who is interested in the "climate".
Particularly edifying remarks, because the director systematically
placed himself in the "if" of the prospective, the future, but for him
it has become "quasi sure". Climate disasters will inevitably increase,
he tells us, therefore the damage...
And, there, dear reader, you will logically add that "the amount of
insurance premiums will also increase". But no, not a word! Because we
are among people of good company, aren't we. Hush about anything that
would upset!
At a time when the French political and media sphere is glossing over
"the adoption of the budget" and "taxes", there is no question of
discussing these base questions of money. Especially if it is the
pockets of the average citizen that are going to be affected. We have
already given with the yellow vests, we are not going to make the same
political and media mistake again. We are therefore going to gloss over
what should be generously done in terms of regional redevelopment.
And logical sequence of the France Inter news: we are going to talk
about the Barnier Compensation Fund! Which Barnier is at the same time
traveling to the commercial zone of Givors, where the big brands of
"distribution" (read: "large retail") have set up haphazardly (no brand
names: you already know them, you can list them all).
Flooded because of their incompetence, their buildings have just been
flooded. And guess who is going to pay?
Ah, "climate change", if it didn't exist, we would have to invent it...
Philippe P., October 25, 2024.
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8081
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