Is this climate change real estate agent for real?
Higher Tides Realty will find you a safe space to watch the end of the world.
Climate change threatens the lives of millions as it causes the seas to boil and the skies to burn, but hey, everything's a business opportunity if you look hard enough. Higher Tides Realty is a dedicated climate change real estate agency that helps buyers ensure that their new homes won't be underwater in the future. By analyzing the terrain of areas behind coasts, it's possible to work out where the "new" coastline will emerge once the seas stop rising. Before you ask hey, wasn't that Lex Luthor's plan in Superman: The Movie? The answer is yes, yes it was. Despite this, when we asked Higher Tides' Jake Collins if this was a joke, he insisted that it wasn't.
Rather than attempt to save the planet (and its population) as it stands, some cynical minds are already planning for their post-apocalyptic lives. In 2013, the late futurist James Martin spoke about how climate change cities will become the most desirable places to buy homes just before the world ends. For example, a Canadian city high above sea level will become as sought-after as New York when everything else is under the sea. In Martin's apocalyptic view, these locations will have to be heavily fortified to prevent displaced people from lower-lying regions getting in. And yet, despite how horrific that sounds, Jake Collins still insists that his venture isn't a joke.
Yes, this video does include the phrase "the brighter side of climate change."
As far as Higher Tide goes, we're still not sure if this is one of those hoaxes that's so well-orchestrated it's designed to shock people into action or a legitimate venture. We did some digging, and all the signs point to this being a serious way to profit from a future catastrophe. The website seems legitimate, if hosted by an anonymizing service, and Collins' has been a realtor since 2005. Then again, we did check for records of a company named Higher Tides Realty (and variations therein) and couldn't find an official record of it, so take it all with a pinch of salt. No matter how much we asked, however, Collins still insists that his new company isn't a joke, so if you're looking for a safe viewing point from which to view the devastation, he's your man.
