Despite Rising Seas and Bigger Storms, Florida’s Land Rush Endures


A Gulf Coast of Florida community. Captions and Photograph courtesy of:© Orrin H. Pilkey and J. Andrew G. Cooper

Excerpts;

Florida was built on the seductive delusion that a swamp is a fine place for paradise.

Only, now there is a twist: Florida is no longer the swampy backwater it once was. It is the nation’s third most populous state, with 21 million people, jutting out precariously into the heart of hurricane alley, amid rising seas, at a time when warming waters have the potential to bring ever stronger storms…

Read Full Article; The New York Time (09-18-2017)

Reinforce and Build: The vicious cycle driving development on Florida’s most fragile beaches; by John Platt, Hakai Magazine (12-20-2016)

Developers don’t get it: climate change means we need to retreat from the coast, Guardian UK (15-03-2016)
It is preposterous to build in areas that are bound to flood. So why are real estate companies still doing it?..

Miami’s fight against rising seas, BBC (04-04-2017)
In the battle against rising seas, Florida – which has more to lose than almost anywhere else in the world – is becoming ground zero…

Column: High-rises spell the end for Florida beaches; By Orrin H. Pilkey and J. Andrew G. Cooper; Tampa Bay (07-25-2017)
Floridians are becoming more attuned to sea level rise and more familiar with nuisance flooding related to the rising sea. However, we believe there is less recognition that by century’s end it is likely that most of Florida’s major beaches will be permanently gone…

A swath of Miami Beach was washing away. The fix? Dump 285,000 tons of sand on it; Miami Herald (03-28-2017)

Shrinking Shores: Florida reneges on pledges to its beaches; The Naples Daily News (11-17-2016)
The shores shrink, the tourists scatter, the tax base shrivels. That’s what troubles many communities across the state forced to shoulder the expensive burden of beach renourishment…

Sand’s end, The Verge (11-17-2016)
Miami Beach has run out of sand. Now what?..

Column: The future of Florida’s beaches and the public’s right to know; Op Ed. by Orrin Pilkey (12-07-2015)

When rising seas transform risk into certainty; The New York Times (04-18-2017)

Sea levels rose faster in 20th century than in previous 2,700 years, says study; CNN (02-23-2016)
Scientists have modeled a history of the planet’s sea levels spanning back 3,000 years, and concluded that the rate of increase last century “was extremely likely faster than during any of the 27 previous centuries.”

“Retreat from a Rising Sea: Hard Choices in an Age of Climate Change,” A book by Orrin H. Pilkey, Linda Pilkey-Jarvis, and Keith C. Pilkey
“Retreat from a Rising Sea: Hard Choices in an Age of Climate Change” is a big-picture, policy-oriented book that explains in gripping terms, what rising oceans will do to coastal cities and the drastic actions we must take now to remove vulnerable populations.

Latest Posts + Popular Topics