Forecast of rising waters paints bleak future for S. Fla. coasts

[leftchick]

http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/504564.html




BY CURTIS MORGAN
Under conservative predictions of a three-foot rise in sea level, high tide would wash daily into downtown Miami, South Beach and Hollywood by century's end. At five feet, the sea would swallow much of the Everglades and cover pavement from Fort Lauderdale across to Naples.

That's the startling future the Miami-Dade County Climate Change Task Force will describe Tuesday -- coincidentally, Earth Day -- when members present county commissioners with a first set of recommendations to help slow or stave off rising seas that threaten all of South Florida with catastrophic social, environmental and economic damage.

''Hopefully, these kind of revelations are going to open eyes,'' said Harvey Ruvin, the county's clerk of court and chairman of the task force. ``It's the reality unless we want to live in a dramatically different world. The science keeps getting bleaker.''

Simply put, no place on the planet has more at stake if global warming continues unabated.

One international group, the report notes, already ranks Greater Miami, with so much high-priced property already in high-risk coastal zones, as world's most vulnerable spot for flood losses. Surge from a once-a-century hurricane could cause $416 billion in economic damage now, according the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and put a mind-boggling $3.5 trillion at risk by 2070 with areas further inland exposed.

[DrDan]

1. no wonder junior bought that crawdad ranch . . .

he sees ocean-front property in his future.

[tanyev]

2. What's the prognosis for Rosemary Beach?

It sure would be a shame if Karl Rove lost his house.

[islandmkl]

3. and fat old rush, too....

[Ganja Ninja]

4. Rush Limbaugh will lose his house in Palm Beach. n/t

[TheCowsCameHome]

7. Hopefully he'll be OD'd on OxyContin when the water rises.

[El Pinko]

12. Sorry, the Palm Beach Mansions are built on the coastal ridge.

Although most of coastal Florida is low-lying, many of the mansions of Palm Beach are built on a limestone Coastal ridge, putting them as much as 15 feet above sea level.

Palm beach is a barrier island - but a meter of sea level rise would just make it a bit smaller.

[leftchick]

14. here is a NASA image

it looks gone to me

http://winafish.blogspot.com/2007/10/only-15-feet.html

[El Pinko]

15. It looks there to me.

Look at this map.




Where it says "West Palm Beach" - that's where palm beach is. In the submerged Florida, it's the little sliver there to the furthest east.

It honestly is one of the highest places in South Coastal Florida. I was quite amazed at how high it was driving through there. Palm Beach is a GORGEOUS place in a very ugly state...


I notice that the coastal ridge neighborhoods of Miami are also above water - Coconut Grove, Coral Gables - etc.

Isn't it interesting how the wealthiest neighborhoods are always so far above any risk of floods?

[Ganja Ninja]

16. Well good luck trying to get water and sewage and electrical ..

service. And good luck trying to sell it too.

It might as well be under water if you can't use it and can't sell it.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Won't do Manhattan a whole lot of good either.

It's only about 15 feet above sea level .

[BadgerLaw2010]

10. You can build seagates around Manhattan. Three would do the job.

Florida, not so much. The difference between being a peninsula and a harbor.

[dipsydoodle]

13. I'm surprised that have yet to do that

Some of London is actually below sea level and that was sorted years ago.

[Subdivisions]

6. Thanks for passing this on. Here's more interesting reading:

http://www.sfrpc.org/data/ClimateChange/Community%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

A general search:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2005-02,GGLD:en&q=Miami%2dDade+County+Climate+Change+Task+Force

[HereSince1628]

8. I expect Miami to become a fishbowl city,

The same thinking that led to making New Orleans into a fishbowl will probably prevail in Miami.

Anyone know how will sea-level rise impact saltwater infiltration of Florida's aquifers?

[leftchick]

9. Saltwater Intrusion into coastal water wells

from Texas Explorer's excellent link posted above.....

http://www.sfrpc.org/data/ClimateChange/Community%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf

[Ganja Ninja]

11. I doubt we even have until the end of this century.

The thing about all of this is once it starts rising its not going to stop. The less ice there is the faster it will melt. Once Miami goes the people in the rest of Florida will be wondering how much longer they have. Land values will crash big time and it won't just be Florida. It will be happening on both coasts. All of a sudden all those cheap houses in the rust belt states will be in big demand.

[El Pinko]

17. sea level rise has proceeded at about 2 inches per decade over the last 50 years...

...why are you so certain that the rate will suddenly accelerate to 1.5 meters per decade this century?

I'm not being facetious - even if the whole northern ice cap melts and half of Greenland and a big chunk of the Antarctic ice shelf collapses, I seriously doubt the sea level rise will be that drastic.

I won't be here, but I would be willing to wager that sea levels in 2100 will be about 80 cm higher than today -tops.