Rising sea eats away at Florida coastline...erosion picking up speed.

[madfloridian]

I think most along the coasts are simply still in denial. We don't see much about it, it is really not talked about much. Too uncomfortable. The hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 have really taken a toll.

Global warming is boosting the sea level along Florida's gulf coast

I found this picture at another site, but it gives a vivid image of the kind of thing that is happening.



SINGER ISLAND, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 31: Heavy beach erosion caused by the waves from Tropical Storm Noel threatens condominiums October 31, 2007 on Singer Island, Florida. The National Hurricane center continues to issue an advisory for Southern Florida saying they should monitor the progress of the Noel.
Picture courtesy of Day Life

Global warming is boosting the sea level along Florida's gulf coast and already causing profound environmental changes, scientists say.

•  At Waccasassa State Park in Levy County, palms trees are toppling over dead as rising saltwater creeps up the beach.

•  At Rookery Bay Preserve near Naples, salt­water mangroves have invaded what used to be freshwater marshes.

•  On the western side of Everglades National Park, inland marshes are being replaced by seawater ponds.

"People have a hard time accepting that this is happening here," said University of Florida professor Jack Putz, who has led a Levy County research effort since 1992. Seeing the dying palms, he said, "brings a global problem right into our own back yard."

What is happening is not just a minor botanical alteration in a few isolated places. The scientists studying the phenomenon see it as a harbinger for major changes in the state's geography — submerging islands and turning swamps into open bays. Those changes alone can create a serious economic impact on businesses such as fishing.

Some advise a life style change at once...such as not building houses in flood-prone areas. The article makes clear that no one has a handle on a time frame.

But they agree that "if sea levels continue rising, adapting to this new geography will require major changes in Florida's lifestyle — and soon."

[merwin]

1. The only good thing about global warming...

is that there will be less of Florida to deal with.

[madfloridian]

2. LOL That's funny, and I understand.

We should not be allowed out in polite company.

[Lost-in-FL]

4. AMEN!!!

:toast:

[BayouBengal07]

3. So it's not just Louisiana?

I guess that's a silver lining; I thought it was just us. Everybody talks about LA like we're retarded and can't figure out our coastline problem.

[madfloridian]

5. I think it is too scary for people to take seriously.

It is easier to be in denial. I remember the pictures from Gore's map of Florida in Inconvenient Truth. It was startling.

[rasputin1952]

6. The whole world is in denial, and has been for almost 50 years...

Back in th 1950's there was talk about the possibility of the Gulf Stream losing power generated by hot/cold cycles. By the 70's there was evidence that such changes were taking place, but people just slogged on. By the 80's, when China really started hitting Industrialization, with India not far behind, there was so much evidence, Climatologists were starting to yell to be heard.

Today, there is little more than a smattering of people who can and will take on this challenge. People are not taking this seriously at all...lot's of talk, but consumption rises every quarter. People don't understand the global implications, this is not just a case of the oceans rising a few feet, which would be devastating enough; but of global weather patterns that have an effect on agriculture, which in turn, has a direct impact on how we survive. People don't want to face that scenario...it scares them, so they turn away from it, in the vain hope it will all "just work itself out".

When morons like Limbaugh talk about natural carbon cycles, volcanoes dumping millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, people don't understand that what is natural is adaptable, to an extent; what is man-made is simply compounding the problem exponentially. That means we, as a species, are responsible, and for all of the talk about taking responsibility seriously, when it comes down to brass tacks...we chicken out.

The fear factor weighs heavily with these people. In blissful ignorance they feel it will have a minimal impact on earth. These are not our hardscrabble ancestors who lost years off their lives trying to eke out a living, these are people who just figure there will always be milk at the store, gas to get them there and plenty of fresh clean air because they wiped out tobacco. When the fields of the Central Plains change to dust, there will once again be an awakening.

[opihimoimoi]

7. If anybody, its our Leaders who have not paid attention to Global Changes

The Poor Things...they don't heed warnings .... not to the point of action....sound answers are what we need...not band aids the Bush guys use...

[rasputin1952]

9. There are two reasons for their neglect...

1. They don't know what to do.

2. They know they'll be gone when it hits the fan.

So essentially...they don't see it as a problem.

[opihimoimoi]

11. What ever happened to....TAKE THE LEAD...or get outta the Fkn Way....?

[rasputin1952]

12. The days of Teddy Roosevelt and FDR are long gone old friend...

this is the regeneration of the Harding/Coolidge years...:(

[opihimoimoi]

16. 3X DAMN.....There has to be a way to rid the system of Cronies and Ineptness

Its called an electiom with a BROOM...GET THEM FKN PUBS outta there

[rasputin1952]

17. I do believe the broom is there...we just need to use it this Nov...

:D

[opihimoimoi]

18. New, Larger, Better, Brooms from BROOMS R US...get the BOOM BOOM MODEL #%$

Sterilizes as it sweeps CLEAN...

Comes with Instructions...

1. VOTE BLUE

2. Use Reason...sweep out the dusty Pubs without contaminating yourself. Wear Dust protection

3. Sweep every 4 years....

[rasputin1952]

19. LOL...

Love it!

:D

[ensho]

24. kick

:)

[1monster]

50. It started more than thirty years ago. A portion of the road that was A1A near where I live

is in the ocean and has been for thirty years. The new portion of A1A seems to get closer and closer to the ocean every year. It isn't of course. The ocean is getting closer to that portion of A1A.

That said, I don't understand why you still live in Florida if you hate it so much.

I still love my area of Florida, even though it is being destroyed in huge amounts of acreage every day.

The only good thing about Bush's recession is that it has slowed down development dramatically.

But even thought there are thousands of houses and condominiums in our county sitting empty and begging for buyers, the developers still come before the county commission almost every meeting trying to get approval for yet another PUD or DRI.

I've told my son to move inland (which means north) as soon as he finishes college. I may change that to as soon as he finishes community college and have him finish his BA or BS in a higher dryer state.

[BadgerLaw2010]

26. I don't think anyone would defend Florida developing the coast as "smart."

Sea level rise will destroy LA and FL, period. There isn't anything to be done about it - you can't raise an entire coastline. This isn't like building seagates to protect Manhattan.

[pitohui]

27. and yet in louisiana we never build condos on offshore islands

it ain't just us, in fact, in louisiana, we have one of the most responsible set-ups

folks on grand isle have elevated homes and they are not giant "condos" but rather modest beach houses that people re-build and replace when needed -- people are required to be able to evacuate in plenty of time along hwy 1 when a storm is brewing and they CAN evacuate because the island is not so densely populated -- traffic gets slowed way down but it keeps moving

coastal florida and new jersey -- a different story -- HUGE population, HUGELY overbuilt, there is no way that everyone could evacuate safely in time -- if katrina made landfall as cat 4 in florida as it did at buras, louisiana, thousands of people would be dead in their cars because they could never have driven out in time

louisiana/mississippi's bad luck was actually the good luck of texas and florida, think about it, 120 people killed evacuating houston for hurricane rita and the storm didn't even hit there, how many would be dead in their cars if the storm had struck?

florida and texas should be looking to stabilize their population, instead, they deliberately lure older people there with "no state income tax," a lot of old people are going to be dead on the highway one day when the big one hits at the wrong place, because you have these people packed into apartments and condos, way too dense of a population, and it's going to bottleneck the roads!

[Patriot Abroad]

49. Very true

Even if there was no rise in sea level at all, irresponsible development of costal areas will lead to subsidence, and some areas are just naturally susceptable to it.

And when there's only one road out, people will try to "tough it out" and one of these days the piper will be paid (again)

[bedazzled]

8. my family was in singer island today - nothing but overpriced condos that block the beach

i commented to my husband that you'd have to be nuts to
build homes on that little spit of land. more money
than sense, i guess.

a good portion of what's left of the coastline in palm
beach is inaccessible to non-residents, yet they'll call
on the taxpayers to repair their beaches for them. not
that it would be possible to repair them...

[madfloridian]

10. Their greed will come back to bite them.

You can't even see the beach anymore for high rises. Sad.

[Nay]

22. I grew up in Largo/Clearwater--we used to go out to Sand Key as

a family and have a campfire on the beach among the Australian pines, watch the sun go down, etc. There was a lot of screaming when the developers bought the whole key (which, until then, was almost all wooded, with wildlife like raccoons, possums) and developed every inch of it with hotels, condos, etc.. What did they leave the public? A parking lot on one end, with access to the beach. Cost: 10 yrs ago, it was 50 cents an hour. God knows what it is now.

My point: Keys are a natural barrier to wave action, and its function is destroyed if you develop it. But money talks and common sense goes down the tubes. As a native Floridian, I could never go back. Hurts too much.

[liberal N proud]

43. Clearwater parking is through the roof

You can expect to pay $20/day if you are lucky to find a spot to park.

We were in Clearwater last week. Went to the beach one day, they had overflow parking set up on the causeway. Sign said Public Parking. I along with about other 20 cars got tickets for parking in "public parking" $25 each.

Metered parking is $125/hr

[onethatcares]

13. singer island, jupiter, sannibel those places are

for us unwashed masses to throw money at, but not to use the beaches. The folly of throwing sand from the bottom of the ocean onto the beach and expecting it to stay, is madness.

[JCMach1]

23. Revisited Sanibel two years back... There were almost NO SHELLS compared to the 1980's

What's worse, the entire bay was flooded with freshwater released by the Corps of Engineering Idiots...

Imagine brackish water polluted with diety knows what from Lake Okeechobee and the Sugar and vegetable plantations that surround it.

One year later, the Everglades and S. Florida was bone dry again and the release water was gone...

South Florida is a human and ecological nightmare.

[ensho]

25. true - everything is breaking down

changing

[trof]

14. Gulf Shores, AL: 2 beach 're-nourishments' in last 7 years.

Each costs millions of dollars.
Huge pump barges anchored off shore and mile of piping.
Pumping sand up onto the beaches and buldozers spreading it around.

Several years ago, after Hurricane Opal, I was at a wedding reception at beachside Holiday Inn. The foundation was completely exposed on the water side. No more beach.

[tsuki]

15. They are "beach re nourishing" here also. Once the beach erosion line is

established, the Army Corps of Engineers must maintain the line. Millions of taxpayer dollars used to maintain beach erosion lines, but if a citizen walks on the beach of a gated community, they can be arrested.

The Welfare Kings strike again.

[Sabriel]

20. New tourism campaign: "See the Keys, While You Still Can!"

One of the most beautiful sights in the country--driving over the Long Key or Seven Mile Bridge--may soon be lost. See it while it's still there.

[madfloridian]

36. You mean the bridge itself?

I guess I had not thought about the tragedy of that. Beautiful trip.

[SoCalDem]

21. and with it, the beaches..and tourism

People go there for the beach lifestyle.. buildings precariously perched on craggy coasts slapped regularly by brackish water, are not tourist magnets

which do you prefer?



or
same place after erosion

[Baby Snooks]

28. No, no, no it's subsidence!

That's the new excuse. It's not sea level rise. It's subsidence. Odd how so many coastal areas are subsiding all at once though.

[madfloridian]

29. Found this online from Gore's movie...image of FL in the not too far future

Does anyone remember the dates he gave as possible?



"We'll all see plenty of satellite photographs showing storm projections over the coming months. Hurricane season begins tomorrow, June 1st, and amid all the frantic warnings, it might be worthwhile to think longer term as well: to the flooding that might overwhelm South Florida's coasts if current glacial melting trends continue. That's what this map represents, according to Al Gore's new documentary film An Inconvenient Truth."

http://hellafrisch.blogspot.com/2006/05/al-gore-on-staying-dry.html

[mopinko]

30. whatever he said, it will be much sooner

his estimates were very conservative and assumed that we would not hit some tipping point where it would begin to grow exponentially, instead of just arithmetically.

people are sure in denial, tho. i have a friend who just retired early, and is looking at buying a condo in miami. i tried to convince him to just give the money to me, instead of watching it wash away. :crazy:
so, are you under water in that map mad?

[madfloridian]

32. Nope, we are inland.

But there ain't much "inland" in Florida.

[truebrit71]

42. Speaking of tipping points...I think we've already passed it...

..I just get this feeling in my gut that we're well and truly screwed at this point...The time to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and their deadly side-effects was in the early 1970's...It is too late now...China and India continue to use more and more carbon-based fuel and will rapidly add to the overall pollution in the atmosphere...

We have to plan now for what we do AFTER it all goes screwy...

[femrap]

31. I read that Karl Rove bought an

expensive house on the Emerald Coast of Florida....hahahaha! Maybe he isn't very smart and does believe the world is flat!

Is that part of Florida eroding as well?

[The Backlash Cometh]

33. Time to plant some mangroves.

At least we can build boardwalk cities through them.

[madfloridian]

34. This is nuts....now they are fighting over piles of sand.

I knew the water wars were on. They are necessary because the developers have had free rein here in Florida for so many years. No restrictions. What ever they wanted.

But now they are fighting over sand?

Nothing shifty about it: Protecting Sanibel sand a big concern

A search for sand to widen a Broward County beach is prompting worries about a cross-state raid on a stash of sand to which Collier County is laying claim.

Broward’s search of federal waters off the Florida coast from St. Lucie County, around the tip of the state, to Charlotte County overlaps with a spot off Sanibel Island where Collier County scooped up sand for a 2006 beach widening project.

Collier County spent more than $2 million to find the sand source, dubbed Tom’s Hill, and to determine that the sand is compatible with Collier beaches, the county’s coastal projects manager Gary McAlpin wrote in an e-mail to Deputy County Manager Leo Ochs.

“It is unlikely that they (Broward County) will come over to this coast but this opens up a big can of worms,’’ McAlpin wrote. “We need to protect our investment and the source the best we can.’’

Collier County commissioners could vote as early as next month to send a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection objecting to any county other than Collier or Lee counties using the Sanibel sand stash.

This is just weird.

[madfloridian]

35. You Tube of South Florida erosion....well done....scary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMppxpWxFcQ

Noel never hit Florida, but it wreaked havoc.

[Mithreal]

37. Building your house on sand seemed like a good idea at the time

Anyone know how much beach restorations or resort and beach house welfare is costing American taxpayers?

[happygoluckytoyou]

38. STOP!!!!!! NO NEED TO WORRY.... JEB HAS AN EXIT STRATEGY

[Divine Discontent]

39. some lady in a coastal FL post office said

to me the other day on a visit, that, "where's the global warming people at now?", because it was chilly out - I shit you not. You find words to say to these people, but often, all you want to say is you're a moron.

[SoCalDem]

47. ahh. the weather v climate idiots..

aren't they funny??

I remind people that it IS possible to have a brain tumor and also be allergic to strawberries :)

[ringtailtooter]

40. Over the past 13 years I've watched our barrier island deminish in size

and the Gulf of Mexico's water quality go from clear seafoam green to brackish brown. When I moved to SW FL in 1995, it was still fairly pristine with the occasional red tide outbreaks. Now the greater Port Charlotte - Ft. Myers - Naples - Marco MSA is peril. The Caloosahatchee River dumps tons to toxic waste from Lake Okeechobee and interior sugar fields into our bays, estuaries and beaches along the Gulf coast. The sewer system of Lee County is in disintegrating condition and leaks health threatening amounts of raw sewage into the waters, to the point of boil water alerts and no swimming signs everywhere. They are privately owned and have little or no government oversight (read heavy Republican local government).
Back to my island, our coastal community has ferry boat access to a barrier island that is accessible only by boat. When I bought into the community 13 years ago, the island was appx. 1.5 miles long by 500+ wide. It was covered in lush Australian Pine trees, scrub oaks and mangroves on the bay side. The environmentalists took down all the pine trees because they were "non-native". They were planted along the Gulf Coast of Florida during the early 1900s to help hold sand on the islands. The only purported threat was the inconveniencing of sea turtle nesting. Since they have been removed, the island rapidly has become a sliver of sand with a few scraggly mangroves trying to hold on. The hurricanes and rising water levels have cut passes through the island in several places, thus increasing its demise. Our community has a 100 year lease on it from the county. I don't think they will see that island 100 years from now.
Both Lee and Collier counties spend fortunes annually to "renourish" the beaches with offshore sand that's coarser than the natural sand, and the tourists complain about the stones and lack of shells. Both counties rely heavily upon the winter season tourists for economic stability. Combined with the recession and degradation of quality, our numbers are down and many locally owned businesses are closing and even some large chains are pulling out.
This area is carved out of the Everglades and has a very low altitude. It won't take much more for this to all be swallowed up by the Gulf and Everglades.

[EnviroBat]

41. Where are your Republicans Gods now?

[Mithreal]

44. Rapture planning and symposiums? nt

[EnviroBat]

46. Indeed...

[Lance_Boyle]

45. Jack Putz - it doesn't get any funnier than that.

I hope for his sake he grew up in a gentile community.

[JP Belgium]

48. Shhhh ! They'll use it as an excuse...

...for advancing their primaries.

:rofl:

[malaise]

51. Where is Rove's new home again?

This is serious.

[libodem]

52. It's just God's way

of trying to wash Rush Limpbaugh's apartment building off the map. Go God!!!