Rising tides force Miami Beach residents to seek higher ground


Miami City’s Skyline, Through the Reflex System of a Camera. Photo courtesy of: ©Marc Martinez

Excerpts;

Scientists with the United Nations Wednesday released their most alarming report yet on climate change. Oceans are warming, sea levels are rising and polar ice is melting — all of that is accelerating because of increasing carbon dioxide levels.

But the report warns the harshest consequences may be on low-lying coasts, where almost 700 million people live.

The shores of Miami Beach are lined with multi-million dollar homes and yachts. For more than 60 years, it has been home to charter boat captain Dan Kipnis. The low-lying Miami Beach regularly floods during high tides, but not because of storms or hurricanes…

Read Full Article; CBS News (09-25-2019)

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

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…

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

Miami Beach Sees Rising Seas as No Threat to Real Estate Boom, For Now; Phys.Org (04-22-2015)

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?..

Atlantic City and Miami Beach: two takes on tackling the rising waters; Guardian UK (03-20-2017)

Florida has spent more than $100 million pouring more sand onto beaches in the past three years. Is it time to wave a white flag? Sun Sentinel (06-08-2018)
In South Florida’s war against the tides, it may be time to recognize that discretion is the better part of valor. For the past 70 years, the state of Florida has spent more than $1.3 billion on packing sand onto eroding beaches…

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…

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

Gone with the wind: storms deepen Florida’s beach sand crunch; Reuters (02-16-2018)
Costs of so-called beach renourishments are a fraction of the total, measured in hundreds of millions of dollars, but the effort is crucial for Florida’s $67 billion tourism industry. And while sand needs are surging, there is not enough to go around…

Sand washes away as quickly as it can be dumped, Bathtub Beach, FL, TCPalm News (11-17-2017)
Between 2004 and 2014, some $13.6 million was spent on beach renourishment in Martin County, Florida. About $7.1 million came from local funds — your tax dollars. In the past two years, more than $6 million from a variety of sources has been spent to renourish and restore dunes at Bathtub Beach alone…

Florida is drowning. Condos are still being built. Can’t humans see the writing on the wall? Guardian UK (02-15-2018)
People tend to respond to immediate threats and financial consequences – and Florida’s coastal real estate may be on the cusp of delivering that harsh wake-up call…

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