Miami, the great world city, is drowning while the powers that be look away

[Quixote1818]

Last edited Sat Jul 12, 2014, 12:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Low-lying south Florida, at the front line of climate change in the US, will be swallowed as sea levels rise. Astonishingly, the population is growing, house prices are rising and building goes on. The problem is the city is run by climate change deniers


In November 2013, a full moon and high tides led to flooding in parts of the city, including here at Alton Road and 10th Street. Photograph: Corbis


Read entire article here: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/miami-drowning-climate-change-deniers-sea-levels-rising

This study of flooding in Miami Beach is absolutely devastating! The area will probably be a ghost town by 2050 with 30 to 70 tidal flooding events each year. It went from .2 in 1998 to 2 per year in 2013: http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/users/swdowinski/presentations/2014-Wdowinski-SLR-Miami-Beach.pdf

And then there is this: World's Hottest May Is Now May 2014: NOAA


http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/may-2014-was-worlds-hottest-warmest-record-noaa-20140623

[Uncle Joe]

1. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Quixote.

[msongs]

2. time to sell and move out. Floridians are being rewarded for voting republican nt

[ananda]

3. That's just weird and bizarre...

... that people are still moving there and building is still going on.

It's as though everyone is wearing those whirly target glasses.

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. Some of these articles are deceiving.

I've been a Floridian on and off for most of my life and spent a lot of time in Miami - I graduated HS in the 70's there and lived there in the early 60's and again from 74 through 87 or so.

Miami Beach IS NOT MIAMI!

Miami Beach is on a low lying barrier Island - technically the northern most key of the Florida Keys and there has been street flooding during high tides and full moons and storms etc. for DECADES. (actually, forever) Suggesting the two places are the same is like saying Manhattan and Long Island are the same, merely because they are both New York.

Now, I don't for one second think that global climate change is not a real phenomena and I know that Miami and Miami Beach will be in serious trouble should sea levels rise much more, but this sort of story is completely misleading.

The entirety of Dade county has terrible run-off problems when it rains because the whole area is only a few feet above sea level. When it rains, the storm drains are easily overwhelmed because their drainage angles are rather flat. Miami Beach is particularly vulnerable because the water just can not run off fast enough.

The pic in the OP - of Alton Road & 10th is on the Beach, NOT in Miami proper.

[Quixote1818]

5. This article says Miami Beach

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/08/us/florida-finds-itself-in-the-eye-of-the-storm-on-climate-change.html?_r=0

Snip: “This never used to happen,” Mr. Toussaint said. “I’ve owned this place eight years, and now it’s all the time.”

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. Well, I'll see his 8 years and raise him 50.

The headline says "Miami", and then it is talking about a guy with a place on the beach.

Again, I have no doubt there are serious problems being faced by both Miami and Miami Beach, but again, this is not a new phenomena. There have been strings of very wet years in the past where Mr. Toussaint would have said the same thing.

It's akin to looking at a photo like this one;



And then writing an article freaking out about how Venice is flooding! Yeah, well, it's been happening for centuries. Is it going to get worse if sea levels rise? Without a doubt. Is it news?



No. No it isn't.

[Quixote1818]

9. The point of the article is that the Miami (area) is more vulnerable than most areas

Snip>"

A study by the Florida Department of Transportation concluded that over the next 35 years, rising sea levels will increasingly flood and damage smaller local roads in the Miami area.

The national climate report found that although rapidly melting Arctic ice is threatening the entire American coastline, Miami is exceptionally vulnerable because of its unique geology. The city is built on top of porous limestone, which is already allowing the rising seas to soak into the city’s foundation, bubble up through pipes and drains, encroach on fresh water supplies and saturate infrastructure. County governments estimate that the damages could rise to billions or even trillions of dollars."

So I am trying to figure out why you have a problem with this? Areas like Miami Beach and Venice, Italy are going to be the first cities to see catastrophic damage in the next 30 years. Are you seriously saying they should just ignore this and not write an article?

Was there some flooding in the area 50 years ago? If you say so I believe you but the point is that it's getting more and more common and it's on the edge of being a nuisance to becoming billions in property damage.

[Quixote1818]

12. Here is a study that shows a major increase in flooding the past 10 years for Miami Beach

From 1998 to 2006 (Tide induced events) there was an average of .2 per year.

From 2007 to 2013 (Tide induced events) there was an average of 2 events per year. That is a massive increase!

Rain induced events have also doubled over the same time periods.

http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/users/swdowinski/presentations/2014-Wdowinski-SLR-Miami-Beach.pdf

[Quixote1818]

17. You okay?

Last edited Sat Jul 12, 2014, 01:02 AM - Edit history (1)

You said: "Is it news? No. No it isn't."

That's what I was responding to. Is it news? Fuck yes! Big time news! It doesn't get much bigger. As that study shows, there will likely be an increase in flooding in Miami Beach from 2 per year to 30 to 60 per year in just 35 years. I was stunned you would suggest it wasn't news, as though "Why would I think it's important to post the article?" That's what you were insinuating and don't try and deny it.

[Eleanors38]

19. Know what Crackers call Baker County? Sea front property.

[cprise]

18. Thanks Quixote

[Quixote1818]

23. You're welcome.

[JVS]

6. It all seems so familiar from GTA Vice City

[JeffHead]

7. Translated to Republican speak.....

[Agschmid]

10. Kicked.

I certainly would be selling now if I owned down there! Sell while the market is still... Well.. Above water.

[obxhead]

13. I'm already planning the scuba tours

We start with a viewing of waterworld, then we head out with snorklels for training.

[Spider Jerusalem]

14. Realistically? It'll need to be evacuated.

The problem isn't just that the city is run by climate-change deniers; the problem is also that it's going to be below sea level by some number of feet as sea levels rise. The engineering works needed to address the issue would have costs in the trillions and wouldn't be any kind of long-term solution.

[Quixote1818]

15. Agree, check out this study

why this isn't front page news is beyond me. We are not talking a bit more flooding, we are talking about an increase from .2 to 2 over just a few years time.

This is what they are predicting:
For example: In 2050, Miami Beach will
experience 30, 50, or 70 flooding events,
compared with 2 events in 2008.

There was an average of just .2 back in 1998.

http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/users/swdowinski/presentations/2014-Wdowinski-SLR-Miami-Beach.pdf

[Spider Jerusalem]

20. I became aware of the scale of the problem...

after reading this: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-the-city-of-miami-is-doomed-to-drown-20130620

And this is a map of projected areas due to experience a sea level rise of as much as six feet (!) with a confidence interval of >80%:

[Quixote1818]

21. Thanks, I will read this tonight. nt

[lunasun]

22. oh no not South Beach ! !

l wonder what will happen to the Keys and everglades

[DeSwiss]

24. K&R