Who is unrealistic?
Scientists don’t have a great understanding of how exactly rapidly sea levels will continue to rise or the precise impact on specific areas. Obstruct what? Making the sea level reverse or stop rising when we don't have a great understanding of the issue?
The more conservative finding suggests that they could jump anywhere from 3 feet by 2050 to 7 feet by 2100.
My experience from reading history is that people adapt. This constant crisis is making us insane and imo that is a greater threat to this country and the world.
Scientists understand much more than you realize. And frankly, if my house were on fire, I would hope that the neighbours alerted me and called the fire department before it was too late. Climate change deniers would sit back and let the house burn down because shouting "Fire!" might upset somebody. Momentarily. Until they recognized the bigger threat and wished my home had its faulty wiring fixed long before the house caught fire. Because now the neighbours' house has caught fire from my house fire's flames.
Climate change denial works like that. Donald Trump is literally endangering people's homes. Unforgivable Fact-free Onslaughts
Scientists tend to work in teams, moreover, so earth scientists pull in experts in other fields. For example, a big problem that exacerbates flooding along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts is destruction of the barrier islands, beaches, and wetlands, along with people building in the flood plain.
History tells me that people adapt to much (not all) environmental deterioration, but they would have been a lot better off had their parents & grandparents left the natural resources in better shape.
It will take a few decades before most US sea-level communities are under water. But during hurricane season, big storm surges can destroy communities that have stood for over a century. In Florida, the aquifers in porous (sponge-like) limestone are filling with water, saturating the ground from within.
Then fixing the problem, Netherlands-style, is expensive. Taxes and home insurance rates rise to cover the costs.
Remember when Hurricane Sandy hit NYC in 2012? Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when the levees failed?
Here are some communities already affected by sea level rise.
Charleston, SC
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/hi...es-sea-levels-rise-along-south-carolina-coast
Miami Beach, FL
https://www.businessinsider.com/miami-floods-sea-level-rise-solutions-2018-4
Coastal Louisiana
https://sealevelrise.org/states/louisiana/
Inuit Communities in Canada's Arctic:
https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/its-time-listen-inuit-climate-change
New Orleans has been pumping out water for decades now. Half the city is at or now even below sea level. We can kiss Mardi Gras goodbye, not to mention its terminals for oil shipments.
Adaptation can get mighty expensive, notably in a hurricane zone.
Let's not turn the American eagle into an Unobservant Flightless Ostrich with its head in the sand.