Over the Seawall: Tsunamis, Cyclones, Drought, and the Delusion of Controlling Nature

by Stephen Robert Miller

In March 2011, people in a coastal Japanese city stood atop a seawall watching the approach of the tsunami that would kill them. They believed—naively—that the huge concrete barrier would save them. Instead they perished, betrayed by the very thing built to protect them. Erratic weather, blistering drought, rising seas, and ecosystem collapse now affect every inch of the globe. Increasingly, we no longer look to stop climate change, choosing instead to adapt to it.

Never have so many undertaken such a widespread, hurried attempt to remake the world. Predictably, our hubris has led to unintended—and sometimes disastrous—consequences. Academics call it maladaptation; in simple terms, it’s about solutions that backfire. Over the Seawall tells us the stories behind these unintended consequences and about the fixes that can do more harm than good. From seawalls in coastal Japan, to the reengineered waters in the Ganges River Delta, to the artificial ribbon of water supporting both farms and urban centers in parched Arizona, Stephen Robert Miller traces the histories of engineering marvels that were once deemed too smart and too big to fail. In each he takes us into the land and culture, seeking out locals and experts to better understand how complicated, grandiose schemes led instead to failure, and to find answers to the technologic holes we’ve dug ourselves into.

Over the Seawall urges us to take a hard look at the fortifications we build and how they’ve fared in the past. It embraces humanity’s penchant for problem-solving, but argues that if we are to adapt successfully to climate change, we must recognize that working with nature is not surrender but the only way to assure a secure future.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Audiobook, History

264 pages, Hardcover

Published October 31, 2023

Reviews

[Elentarri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an extremely interesting book that examines the devastating effects of tsunamis, cyclones, and droughts in three case studies. Miller highlights the futility of attempting to control nature or fully predict natural disasters. Using Japanese seawalls, the re-engineered waters in the Ganges River Delta, and the artificial ribbon of water supporting both farms and urban centers in parched Arizona to illustrate what works and what doesn't work, he advocates for a more enlightened approach to disaster management that considers the complex interactions between humans (social, cultural and political factors) and the environment. Miller seeks out expert and local knowledge to better understand how complicated, grandiose schemes led to failure, and to find answers to the technological holes we've dug ourselves into. This is also something of a study in human psychology. We are too convinced of the superiority of our engineering feats that we fall flat when they don't hold up, which leads to much greater disasters, lives lost and destruction of property/infrastructure.

[Leslie Rawls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reports about climate change and human behavior often view things as if from a satellite—high enough to see the broad changes but too high to really see the human toll. Miller brings the focus to the ground, sharing tales of individuals and communities that both try to bend nature to human will and suffer the consequences, as do we all. Great read.

[Heather Sackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the Seawall is an engaging read that forces us to reckon with the limits of technology and realize we can't engineer our way out of natural disasters or climate change. Miller is an empathetic storyteller, weaving the harrowing survivors' stories of Japan's 2011 tsunami with care, while still pointing out that this tragedy didn't have to be this bad, if not for our misplaced faith in high modernism. He also expertly distills the very complex history of the Colorado River and the Central Arizona Project down to just a few turns-of-phrase, which offer new — and sometimes darkly funny — takes on the audacity of desert living.

[Frederick Bingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has three sections, one on the Japanese coast and its recovery from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, one on the Ganges (Padma) delta in Bangladesh and one on Arizona and it agriculture. Each is an example of people trying to control natural forces that are ultimately too powerful to stymie.

I’ve been to two or three of the places discussed here. I was in Tucson briefly one summer. The most I remember was how hot it was. A human could not be outside during the daytime.

I’ve also been to Tohoku, the northern part of Honshu, the main Japanese Island. My wife and I lived there for a year, in Sendai. A few years ago, I went back for a visit, after the earthquake. Signs of its occurrence were everywhere. We took a tour to the coast and saw the seawall discussed at length in the book. It is a truly formidable presence. We also visited a school that was preserved as a museum. The building was (maybe) 5 stories high. The wave obliterated everything on the first and second floors. There were pictures of debris piled everywhere. People took shelter on the top floors for several days after the event. There were lots of pictures showing the pileup of debris. The school sheltered the inhabitants of a village that was nearby. The village itself was completely gone, no sign of it except for slabs where the houses used to be. The schools gym was washed away in the event, killing about 50 people.

Section one of the book focuses on the recovery from the quake and the efforts to build a huge seawall that would contain a future such event. It’s all very destructive of the coast.

The stories in Arizona and Bangladesh are similarly depressing, though the disasters in each case are slower-moving. For Bangladesh, the origins go way back to the British Raj and their decisions to build embankments around the areas of the delta, thus cutting them off from annual flooding and the supply of rich sediment. It all reminds me of the Mississippi delta. For Arizona, it all goes back to the interstate river compact signed in the 1920’s that promised the states in the basin more than the river could sustainably provide, and then the decision to build the Central Arizona Project in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars overall, rounded down. Maybe 3.25 rounded down.

Probably 3.75 for the post-Fukushima Japan and coastal cities and villages battling over seawalls vs more passive barriers. The issue about youngsters' flight from smaller towns being accelerated by the tsunami arguably more interesting in a population shrinking Japan than the battle over seawalls.

4.25 or so on Bangladesh. I don't rank it higher because Miller doesn't talk to Bangladeshi small-holding farmers much about climate change. The parts about imposition of Western agricultural ideas on Bangladesh were good.

2.5 on Aridzona. If that. When you cite neoliberal John Fleck but not the late, great Marc Reisner and Cadillac Desert, who covered much of this ground and far more 30 years ago, you're either not well-read enough or not concerned enough. Arizona's current development walls, how much water Indian tribes have water-banked on paper vs reality and more? Not discussed.

[Lisa Hatfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miller's clear, personal examples of humongous, ongoing mistakes from Japan, Bangladesh, and Arizona USA were mind-numbing. I was unaware of so much. Making the problems worse, not better, by building infrastructure that is completely wrong for the geographic situations. How can so many scientists and politicians and NGOs make so many disastrous decisions for so long, reaching back into history but also continuing today and in plans for the future? Insanity.

[Ingrid Lola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miller's narrative drew me in after reading just first few pages. His conversational, forthright style is refreshing and easy to read even though he takes on some pretty complex topics. I recommend this to anyone who wants to be better-informed and part of the conversation about how humans can learn a deeper respect for mother nature.

[Eva Kough · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[John Machata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great data, but a bit dry.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subtitle should be shortened to just “The Delusion of Controlling Nature” - specifically, sea walls in Japan, river management in Bangladesh, and water parks in Arizona