Global warming is causing the polar ice caps to melt. High tide is becoming progressively higher all across the globe and high tide in some areas are so high that they have been renamed as "king tides". Roads and ports will be covered by rising water and rendered useless. Well, maybe not.
The Swiss have invented a car that runs on land and underwater.
It's called the "sQuba," and conjures up memories of James Bond's amphibious Lotus Esprit from "The Spy Who Loved Me."
The sQuba can plow through the water at a depth of 30 feet and has electrical motors to turn the underwater screw.
You'll have to break out the wetsuit, however.
The car has an open top, meaning that the two passengers are exposed to the elements.
Passengers will be able to keep breathing underwater through an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving.
The sQuba's top speed on land is about 77 mph, but it slows down to 3 mph on the surface of the water, and 1.8 mph underwater.
Working with engineering specialists, Rinspeed removed the combustion engine from a sports car and replaced it with several electrical motors. Three are located in the rear — er, aft — with one providing propulsion on land and the other two driving the screw for underwater driving.
The company calls the sQuba the first real submersible car. Unlike military amphibious vehicles, which can only drive slowly on a lakebed, the sQuba travels like a submarine — either on the surface or submerged.
The interior is resistant to salt water, allowing the skipper to drive into a lake or the sea.
Will this technology allow man to disregard the coming of the "king tide" and carry on? Only time will tell.http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gnH7eRmmCNEP2RSqs5Kwpd28YYwQD8UQB6VG0
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