It was pointed out that the Google and Facebook office buildings have a high risk of flooding due to rising sea levels, but countermeasures are inadequate.
Google and Facebook offices are built on the coast of
Rising Seas Are Coming For Big Tech Campuses. Who Will Pay To Protect Them ?: NPR
https://apps.npr.org/sea-level-rise-silicon-valley/
The coastal area of San Francisco Bay is lined with many Google (yellow) and Facebook (blue) office buildings.
Even at the time of writing the article, the expansion of the company building by Google and Facebook is progressing, and Google has purchased a total of 3 billion dollars (about 330 billion yen) worth of properties in
Facebook has purchased a total of $ 2.5 billion worth of properties in the northern part of San Francisco Bay over the past decade. The Facebook building is surrounded by low-income areas of Silicon Valley, such as
The image below shows an area where the sea level in San Francisco Bay rises 4.9 feet (about 150 cm) and there is a high risk of flooding in the event of heavy rain, and you can see the high risk of flooding in the Facebook office building and surrounding areas. ..
Similarly, a 4.9-foot rise in sea level is projected to put Google's buildings at risk of flooding. 'A 4.9-foot rise in sea level is possible during the 21st century,' the NPR said, expressing a sense of crisis about rising flood risk in the area around San Francisco Bay.
To address this increased flood risk, municipalities around San Francisco Bay are planning large-scale embankment construction projects. Building this levee costs billions of dollars, but he pointed out that it would be difficult for local governments around NPR San Francisco Bay to pay billions of dollars. Who pays is a big issue. '
Menlo Park, where Facebook's office is located, has a 9-foot-high embankment.
A Facebook spokeswoman told NPR, 'Rising sea levels are a problem for everyone working in San Francisco.' 'We want to play a role in protecting the community around the building.' He said that. However, NPR said, 'East Palo Out is spending $ 5.5 million, which is 13% of the annual budget, to deal with flood risk, while Facebook is $ 7.8 million. We're investing $ 10,000, which is only 0.009% of Facebook's 2020 revenue, 'he said, claiming that Facebook is investing too little money in flood control.
Around Google's office building, a levee construction plan that costs about $ 2 billion (about 220 billion yen) is underway, but this plan also faces a lack of funds. 'Google enjoys the benefits of building a building around San Francisco Bay, but is funding the embankment construction project,' said Richard Santos, director of
There is an opinion among experts that new developments should not be undertaken until the San Francisco Bay flood control is complete. However, environmental studies professor Mark Rubel at the University of California, Davis points out that the expansion of the building by Google and Facebook will bring new jobs and tax revenues, so it is unlikely that the municipality will refuse to develop it. .. AR Siders, who studies disaster preparedness at the University of Delaware, said, 'We understand that advancing the development of the San Francisco Bay coast will lead to significant costs in the future, but we are short-term. It's very easy to be tempted by profits, 'he said, alerting the local government to the fact that the profits of development are misleading and postponing the issue of flood risk.
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