Twenty five years ago, burying communications lines under road rights of way seemed like a great way to keep those increasingly crucial utilities protected from the elements. But as the climate has changed and sea levels continue to rise, many of those seemingly impregnable tunnels may soon fill up with seawater. That’s a huge potential problem for the physical network that carries the internet. A recent report from the University of Wisconsin suggests that thousands of miles of fiber optic cable and thousands of data traffic hubs could be under water within 10-20 years. Carol Barford directs the UW Nelson Institute’s Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, and is a co-author of the study. She joined Monday Buzz host Brian Standing on September 17, 2018.
Read more at the University of Wisconsin.
