You wake up one morning, there is no internet. You call your supplier and he tells you it’s a major breakdown. We should be able to fix it for in three months… NOOOO!!!!
It’s not the beginning of a disaster movie! This is the conclusion of a study that was presented by researchers from Oregon and Wisconsin presented last July in Montreal.
This study predicts the end of the internet and one reason is simple. Cables buried near the coastlines may be damaged by the rising waters. According to this study, more than 6,545 km of fiber optic cable will be under water in just over 10 years. Which would make them unusable, simply because the cables installed in the 90s are water resistant, but not waterproof. In addition, a little over a thousand maintenance centers will be flooded.
Are some cities more vulnerable than others?
According to these specialists, breakdowns will be more and more frequent, especially in coastal cities. New York, Miami, Seattle or Los Angeles are particularly pointed. The unsuitability of these facilities to climate change will be dramatic for industry and the economy in general.
Time is running out…
In 2016, another study pointed out that oceans and seas had increased by 14 cm between 1900 and 2000, due to melting ice. This phenomenon seems to have accelerated in recent years. Let’s not forget that this rising water is not equal everywhere. In the south of France, water rises twice as fast as elsewhere.
The Internet is an industry that will not have the choice to adapt quickly to climate change. The day Donald Trump can no longer Tweet, perhaps then he will act on adaptations and measures to be taken.