Sinking Cities: Tokyo

• This video discusses the challenges Tokyo faces, including sea level rise, intense rainfall, typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, and liquefaction. 
• It features interviews with experts from Japan and around the world explaining ways that Tokyo can adapt to all of these challenges. 

Positives

• The video thoroughly investigates everything that Tokyo has done or is planning to do to adapt to its current situation.
• It features many experts and engineers who have intriguing ideas (e.g., flooding part of Tokyo to create a "floating city").

Additional Prerequisites

• This video can only be viewed in the U.S.
• The term "liquefaction" might be new to some students. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, liquefaction "is a phenomenon where saturated sand and silt take on the characteristics of a liquid during the intense shaking of an earthquake."
• Sea level rise and more intense extreme weather events are not linked very clearly to climate change. In fact, the term "climate change" is not mentioned very often in the video. It is important to know that sea level rise and more intense extreme weather events are happening because of climate change.

Differentiation

• As students watch the video, they could take notes on the different engineering solutions and ideas. After the video is over, students could argue for one or more of the proposed solutions.
• This video can be used to begin a broader discussion on climate migration using the guiding question "Where should people live in the age of climate breakdown?"
• Excellent resources on this topic include:
  • Let's Talk About Climate Migrants, Not Climate Refugees (UN Article)
  • How the Climate Crisis Will Force a Massive American Migration (ProPublica Video)

This resource spotlights how coastal cities are exposed to climate change. Sea level rise can accelerate their disappearance. Resource is valid, and there is no misconception about the facts presented. Hence, recommended for teaching.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.