Read these two excerpts (here and here) from a new book by Elizabeth Rush which details the effects of sea level rise on the south coast of Florida, USA. “Sunny day flooding”–where coasts flood even without rain and storms due to rising seas and high tides is increasingly frequent today. This is not a theory or a prediction; it is happening today “from Portland, Maine to Key West.” High tides top seawalls and bubble up through storm sewers. Local governments try to protect pricey real estate investments but often leave “low to middle-income neighborhoods where the majority of residents are people of color” to fend for themselves.
Most of the excess heat being driven by climate change is stored in the oceans. That heat is causing sea level rise–by expanding ocean waters and, more importantly, causing increasingly rapid melting of ice at the Poles. Estimates of sea level rise range from 2 to 6.5 feet by 2100; others predict more–“when sea levels have risen in the past, they have usually not done so gradually, but rather in rapid surges.”
Over about 130 years, the population along the south coast of Florida has grown from a few thousand to more than 6 million; the sea will continue to rise; what will all those people do? Research suggests that approximately 13 million Americans may have to move due to sea level rise by the end of the century and economic losses and impacts will be huge.
But, Florida is just an example; this is happening today all over the world.
