South Florida Sea Level Rise

Score one for youth on climate ruling

By: Robert C. Jones, Jr.

Tears streamed down Delaney Reynolds’ cheeks.

It was late afternoon Monday, and the University of Miami graduate student had taken a break from kayaking in the lower Florida Keys to read an email news alert that had come over her cellphone.

In a landmark decision, a Montana state court sided with a group of 16 young environmental activists, ruling that the state violated their constitutional right to a “clean and healthful environment” by allowing fossil fuel projects without considering the effects on climate.

Reynolds paused, took a deep breath, and cried out in joy, “Finally.”

CONTINUE READING

Freshman’s Climate Change Efforts Go From Local to National

By: Nathalie Mairena

Delaney Reynolds, a freshman at the University of Miami, doesn’t go to parties. She sacrifices trips to the beach in favor of working to clean them up. Reynolds does this all in the name of one thing: fighting climate change.

Defending Florida from the effects of climate change is what Reynolds has classified as her lifelong goal since she was 8 years old.

CONTINUE READING

Could South Miami’s New Solar Measure Be Adopted Nationwide? One Tireless Teen Advocate Thinks So

By: Jill L. Ferguson

In the midst of devastating hurricanes, flooding, and sea-level rise, Florida teenager Delaney Reynolds has some choice words for President Trump: “You talk a lot about job creation,” she says. “I would like to see you make sustainable jobs a priority—both to put people to work and to help transition those in fossil fuels or utility jobs into clean-industry jobs.”

CONTINUE READING

South Miami is Sunshine State’s Only City to Require Residential Solar-Energy Systems

By: Bill Kress

Starting in 2015, Miami-based environmental activist Delaney Reynolds began asking dozens of mayors across South Florida to consider working with her to create a law that would change the way new homes are constructed – and “help change the world for the better.”

CONTINUE READING

Recent Hirricanes Pushed Rare Island Species Closer to the Brink

By: Justin Nobel

As Hurricane Irma slammed into south Florida in September, Dan Clark, manager of a complex of four national wildlife refuges in the Florida Keys, had evacuated and was at his mother’s house near Tampa. His eye was on the weather and his mind was on the multitude of plants and animals that inhabit the unique refuge system he oversees, which includes the well-known Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge.

There are about 20 federally endangered species in the Keys, and many of them exist nowhere else on Earth. “The dang eye of the hurricane tore right through the prime habitat for many of our most at-risk species,” said Clark.

CONTINUE READING

Climate change sucks moisture from the West, adding to droughts, fires, study reveals

By: Stuart Leavenworth

The Trump administration released a sweeping report Friday that pegged man-made climate change to droughts and wildfires in California and the West, but for reasons you may not expect.

Scientists have uncovered little evidence that climate change is a driver of reduced rainfall and snowfall in the region, including during the drought of 2001-2015. But studies have found strong links that higher temperatures, caused by climate change, have reduced soil moisture in California and other states. That in turn has affected farm operations and dried out vegetation, creating fuel for wildfires.

CONTINUE READING

In Miami, vote ‘For bonds’ to keep dry

By: Carl Juste

Miami voters have their best opportunity yet to fortify the city as sea-level rise already makes its relentless approach. And not a moment too soon. Here’s what they’ll be asked on Election Day:

Shall the City issue General Obligation Bonds in an aggregate principal amount not exceeding $400,000,000.00 with interest payable at or below the maximum rate allowed by law, payable from ad valorem taxes levied on all taxable property in the City, provided that the capital projects debt millage not exceed the current rate of 0.5935, to:

• Reduce flooding risks; improve stormwater infrastructure;

• Improve affordable housing, economic development, parks, cultural facilities, streets, and infrastructure;

• Enhance public safety

CONTINUE READING

King tide is back. So how high will the water rise this time?

By: Howard Cohen

An understandably weather-weary South Florida can’t be too excited to learn that king tide returns Friday and through the weekend.

After all, a month ago the king tide, plus some crazy rains, put pockets of Miami-Dade — including Brickell, Miami Beach, Shorecrest and Doral — under flood conditions that turned walkers into waders.

Of course, “tides will be a little higher this weekend,” National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Fisher said Thursday. “But we’re not expecting any rain like we had last month in the king tide event, so we are not expecting any major issues through the weekend,” he added.

CONTINUE READING

In huge shift, EPA to prohibit scientists who receive agency funding form serving as advisers

By: Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis, and Chris Mooney

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is poised to make wholesale changes to the agency’s key advisory group, jettisoning scientists who have received grants from the EPA and replacing them with industry experts and state government officials.

The move represents a fundamental shift, one that could change the scientific and technical advice that historically has guided the EPA as the agency crafts environmental regulations. The decision to bar any researcher who receives EPA grant money from serving as an adviser to the agency appears to be unprecedented.

CONTINUE READING

Sea-rise Group to Spend $200k on Bond Campaign

By: David Smiley

A nonprofit linked to a sea-rise advocacy group out of New York is planning a six-figure marketing effort behind Mayor Tomás Regalado’s Miami Forever general obligation bond.

With the city prohibited from funding its own political campaign, a 501(c)4 called the Seawall Coalition is planning to step into Miami and drop $200,000 between now and Nov. 7, when voters will decide whether to pay for $400 million in public works projects. Nearly half the money would pay for sweeping storm drain improvements, pumps and other efforts to brace the city against flooding and climate change, with the remainder going toward affordable housing, parks and public safety.
CONTINUE READING

Colonial-era Maps Show Coral Loss Has Worsened

By: Ben Guarino

Between 1773 and 1775, George Gauld, a surveyor with the British Admiralty, immortalized the coast of the Florida Keys in ink. Though his most pressing goal was to record the depth of the sea — to prevent future shipwrecks — Gauld embraced his naturalist side, too. He sprinkled his maps with miscellany that later charts would omit: where sea turtles made their nests, or the colors and consistency of sand.

Gauld also took note of the corals he saw. And in doing so he created the oldest known records of Florida reefs.
CONTINUE READING

Meet the Teen Trying to Stop Miami From Going Underwater

By: Julie Zeilinger

By age 13, Miami Native Delaney Reynolds had published her third in a series of children’s book about Floridian ecology. But what started as a project to enlighten young people about the beauty of Miami’s coastal environment turned into a somber realization about that environment’s expiration date. Reynolds’ research led her to learn about “sea level rise,” the harrowing reality that while the levels of our seas have been stable for thousands of years, they’ve risen about 10 inches in the past century alone.
CONTINUE READING

South Miami Now Requires Solar Panels on New Roofs, Thanks to Visionary Teen

By: Tania Galloni

When it comes to watching the impact of sea level rise first-hand, low-lying Miami, Fla. is ground zero for the country. High tides swamp its streets, Miami Beach has had to modify its sewage and drainage systems, and an octopus recently grabbed headlines when it showed up in a flooded parking garage.

CONTINUE READING

Delaney Reynolds la adolescente que logró que Miami se convierta en una ciudad solar

By: Eduardo Medina

La reputación que tiene Florida como “el estado donde siempre brilla el sol” es bien conocida, durante no pocos años ese slogan ha servido como gancho turístico, para Miami, particularmente; sin embargo, la entidad no había aprovechado su potencial en generación de energía, hasta ahora.

Gracias a una adolescente de 18 años, la parte sur de Miami se ha convertido en la primera ciudad en Estados Unidos en aprobar una ley que urge a las nuevas casas construidas a contar con paneles solares en sus techos, para el aprovechamiento del sol como recurso en la generación de energía eléctrica.
CONTINUE READING

South Miami Goes Solar!

By: Daren Goldin

Earlier this month South Miami, the small town of roughly 12,000 people, took a big step towards a solar Florida. South Miami, with the help of Mayor Stoddard and his committee, passed a law that requires all new residential homes, buildings, apartment complexes and major renovations to install solar power. The bill officially passed with a vote of 4-1 and will go into effect on September 18 of this year.

CONTINUE READING

Why aren’t politicians doing more on climate change? Maybe because they’re so old.

By: Syndney Sauer

Our country’s leaders have a problem, and it’s called apathy.

There is no such thing as a “climate change denier” — only a person who doesn’t understand the problem enough to care. Climate change is happening, and it’s our cars, our cows, and our factories that are warming the earth and slowly bringing disaster. Which is why it makes me so upset that such a large number of our politicians consistently deny climate change and promote irresponsible corporate actions.
CONTINUE READING

South Florida Teen Behind New Solar Panel Mandate in South Miami

By: Alicia Gentile

The City of South Miami is the first in Florida to mandate solar panels on new homes and a South Florida teenager is behind the new rule.

A year ago, climate change activist Delaney Reynolds, 17, wrote to dozens of mayors asking them if they’d consider working with her to create the law and South Miami Mayor Phil Stoddard got on board. Reynolds says it’s a part of her dream to make the world a better place.
CONTINUE READING

#MarchforScience: Scientists Hit the Streets of Downtown Miami on Earth Day

By: NBC Miami
Scientists and science enthusiasts from all over South Florida descended on Miami to join in on the worldwide March for Science. Hundreds of scientists gathered on Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami Saturday conveying a global message of scientific freedom without political interference. “The level at which science is misunderstood and misused to misinform is alarming,” says organizer Theresa Pinto. “We observe and collect information, we analyze data and adjust for mistakes, and we experiment further to get at knowledge. Why is this under attack?”
CONTINUE READING

EPA Removes Climate Change Information From Website

By: Rene Marsh, CNN
The EPA removed most climate change information from its website Friday, saying in a press release that language on the website is being updated to “reflect the approach of new leadership.” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has expressed doubt about the reasons for climate change, saying in a CNBC interview in March that he was skeptical of the role carbon dioxide plays. “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact,” Pruitt said. “So, no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” J.P. Freire, the EPA’s associate administrator for public affairs, said the agency wants “to eliminate confusion by removing outdated language first and making room to discuss how we’re protecting the environment and human health by partnering with states and working within the law.”
CONTINUE READING

“This Is Not A Partisan Issue:” Here’s What Participants In “March for Science” Had To Say

By: Amanda Rabines, WLRN
Thousands participated in Miami’s “March for Science” on Earth Day and walked down Biscayne Boulevard wearing lab coats and holding up signs with rising seas, periodic table elements and vaccine shots. They rallied in unison with the marches around the nation – fueled by threats coming from the White House to cut federal funding from agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
CONTINUE READING

Sea Level Rise, Natural Catastrophes to be Focus of SPC Conference

By:Tampa Bay Reporter Staff
Delaney Reynolds, teenage founder of “The Sink or Swim Project” highlighting the dangers posed by sea level rise, heads a line-up of insurance, real estate and policy experts who will address risks and consequences of natural catastrophes at the Second Annual Industry Conference on May 24 in St. Petersburg. The conference is co-sponsored by the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions at St. Petersburg College and the Florida Association for Insurance Reform. It will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the Vinoy St. Petersburg Resort & Golf Club, 501 Fifth Ave. NE. Advance registration is required.
CONTINUE READING

“Science, not Silence”: “Mad” scientists march in downtown Miami

By: Caitlin Randle and Alex Harris, Miami Herald
Mad” scientists descended on downtown Miami on Earth Day. Instead of beakers or death rays, more than a thousand scientists and science fans carried protest signs reading “A planet is a terrible thing to waste,” “Scientists resist with evidence” and “What do we want? Evidence based science. When do we want it? After peer review.” The Saturday afternoon rally was one of hundreds worldwide, from Texas to Greenland. The main event, the March for Science in Washington, D.C., drew thousands of people.
CONTINUE READING

March for Science Planned in Miami on Earth Day

By: Brittany Shammas, Miami New Times
It’s not hyperbole to say science is under attack in America. That’s why scientists – who generally do their damnedest to stay out of politics – are getting ready to take the streets. Three months after the Woman’s March drew an estimated 5 million worldwide (and more than 10,000 in Miami), the March for Science is being planned for Earth Day. “I think the political climate in the past 20 years has kind of thrown scientists and science into the political spectrum and polarized it and made scientists like a character in the political game,” says Theresa Pinto, director of education and community engagement with Urban Paradise Guild and one of the Miami march’s planners. “It’s important that now scientists are standing up and saying ‘That’s not what science is about.'”
CONTINUE READING

Cities Around The World March To Defend Science

By: James Amalino, CBS Miami
MIAMI — What do they want? Science! When do they want it? After peer review! Miami is joining in a global day of action to defend scientific work and celebrate its discoveries. The downtown March for Science coincides with Earth Day, starting with an afternoon rally from Museum Park near the Nuevo Mundo sculpture (1075 at Biscayne Blvd.) to the science expo along the west side of Stephen P. Clark Government Center (111 NW 1st St.). “The event celebrates public discovery, understanding and the free and open distribution of scientific knowledge as crucial to the freedom, success, health and safety of life on this planet,” event organizers said.
CONTINUE READING

Nelson, Near Trump’s Resort, Calls for End to Attacks on Climate Science

By: Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald
WEST PALM BEACH — Three years after he held a field hearing in Miami Beach to draw attention to a region at ground zero for climate change, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson convened a second hearing in West Palm Beach on Monday with a new target: the Trump administration’s attack on climate science. Held just across the Intracoastal Waterway from Mar-a-Lago, President Donald Trump’s vulnerable island retreat, the hearing highlighted worsening conditions — and the need to free science from politics. “There are people trying to muzzle scientists. I’ve seen it in Washington. I’ve seen it here in the state of Florida,” said Nelson, a Democrat and the state’s former insurance commissioner.
CONTINUE READING

Japan’s Robot Revolution Will Impact U.S. Jobs

By: Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald
TOKYO — While visiting Japan and interviewing officials on the robotics revolution that is sweeping much of Asia, it became clearer than ever to me that President Donald Trump’s plans to bring back low-skilled manufacturing jobs to America are a political illusion. Trump should take some time off from the golf course and visit this part of the world, where he would see how fast Japan, China and South Korea are developing their robotics industries. They are replacing massive numbers of workers with ever faster, more efficient and cheaper robots, and the United States will have to do the same to remain competitive.
CONTINUE READING

March for Science Planned in Miami on Earth Day

By: Brittany Shammas, Miami New Times
It’s not hyperbole to say science is under attack in America. That’s why scientists — who generally do their damnedest to stay out of politics — are getting ready to take to the streets. Three months after the Women’s March drew an estimated 5 million worldwide (and more than 10,000 in Miami), the March for Science is being planned for Earth Day. “I think the political climate in the past 20 years has kind of thrown scientists and science into the political spectrum and polarized it and made scientists like a character in the political game,” says Theresa Pinto, director of education and community engagement with Urban Paradise Guild and one of the Miami march’s planners. “It’s important that now scientists are standing up and saying, ‘That’s not what science is about.'”
CONTINUE READING

FPL Announces Plan for First Miami-Dade Solar Plant

By: Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald
ENVIRONMENT — Florida Power & Light hopes to construct its first-ever solar power center in Miami-Dade County under a 10-year plan submitted to state utility officials Monday. Under the plan, the utility outlined a network of small solar centers around the state that would add about 1,500 megawatts of power between 2019 and 2023. Among them is a field of panels on about 465 acres the utility owns on farm fields near Krome Avenue in western Miami-Dade County, spokeswoman Alys Daly said. The plant would generate 74.5 megawatts, enough to power about 15,000 homes, she said.
CONTINUE READING

Thousands To Join “March For Science Miami” in a Global Day of Action

By: Bill Kress, Miami’s Community Newspapers
There is a major movement afoot to demonstrate that science is a living endeavor being done by real people here in Miami. On Earth Day, April 22, scientists, educators, students, and families that support scientific research and evidence-based policies will take a public stand and be counted at The March For Science Miami (MFSM) in Downtown Miami, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
CONTINUE READING

Miami Beach awards $47 million in contracts to finish anti-flooding work in South Beach

By: Joey Flechas, Miami Herald
MIAMI BEACH — The next phase of drainage improvements will likely begin later this year in the West Avenue neighborhood of South Beach, the site of two and half years of construction that marked one of the first areas where the city started installing anti-flooding pumps and raising roads in the face of impending sea level rise.
CONTINUE READING

Teen Service Award Winners Fight Illiteracy and Climate Change

By: Austa Somvichian-Clausen, National Geographic
A new awards program honors teens who are making a difference in their world. Two of three young adults taking home prizes from the National Geographic Student Expeditions Inaugural Teen Service Award are dedicated to mitigating climate change, while the grand prize winner is tackling literacy in low-income areas. In order to enter the running for the grand prize—a National Geographic Student Expeditions Trip of their choice in summer 2017, plus a $500 college scholarship—teens had to receive a nomination from one or more of their peers.
CONTINUE READING

Florida Scientists Fear Hurricane Forecasts, Climate Research Will Suffer Under Trump

By: Jenny Staletovich
ENVIRONMENT —A growing chorus of scientists is raising the alarm over reports of Trump administration budgets cuts that would affect climate change research and hurricane forecasting. On Monday, 32 Florida scientists sent a letter to the president voicing worry over reports that the Department of Commerce, which overseas the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has proposed cutting 17 percent from its budget, with the nation’s network of satellites taking the biggest hit. The satellites include a system of polar orbiters that provide critical data from the top and bottom of the planet and help scientists understand two of the biggest threats facing the peninsula.
CONTINUE READING

Volkswagen pleads guilty and agrees to $4.3 billion fine for emissions scandal

By: Tom Krisher and Ed White, Associated Press
DETROIT — Volkswagen pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy and obstruction of justice and agreed to pay a $4.3 billion penalty for a brazen scheme to program nearly 600,000 vehicles to cheat on U.S. emissions tests. The criminal and civil penalty, if approved by a federal judge, would be the largest ever levied by the U.S. government against an automaker. VW’s total cost of the scandal now has been pegged at about $21 billion, including a pledge to repair or buy back vehicles.
CONTINUE READING

FPL Accelerates Plan to Add Solar Power

By: Jim Turner, News Services of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Florida’s largest electric utility intends to double its solar-energy plans for the coming year, leading solar proponents to praise the announcement — and say they would like to see more. A month after outlining plans to build four solar plants this year, Florida Power & Light on Monday said it will put up eight such facilities by early 2018.
CONTINUE READING

He Kept the Netherlands Dry. Now He Aims to Defend Miami and the World from Rising Seas.

By: Andres Viglucci, The Miami Herald
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY — The Special Envoy for Water Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands leans over the railing separating the new raised sidewalk in Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour neighborhood from the sunken well of the old one below, where a restaurant has smartly set up a dining patio with tables and umbrellas. He nods in approval and snaps an iPhone picture. Henk Ovink, once the man in charge of making sure the flood-prone Netherlands stays dry, has been dispatched by his government to help the world figure out how to cope with sea level rise.
CONTINUE READING

CDC’s Canceled Climate Change Conference is Back On — Thanks to Al Gore

By: Brady Dennis, Washington Post
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT —It turns out there will be a conference in Atlanta next month about climate change and its effects on public health. It just won’t have the federal government behind it. The reason? Former vice president Al Gore. “He called me and we talked about it and we said, ‘There’s still a void and still a need.’ We said, ‘Let’s make this thing happen,’ ” said Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “It was a no-brainer.”
CONTINUE READING

Trump Wants to Slash the EPA’s Workforce and Budget, Transition Official Says

By: Michael Biesecker and Seth Borenstein, Associated Press, Time
WASHINGTON (AP) — The former head of President Donald Trump’s transition team at the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday he expects the new administration to seek significant budget and staff cuts. Myron Ebell said in an interview with The Associated Press that Trump is likely to seek significant reductions to the agency’s workforce — currently about 15,000 employees nationwide. Ebell, who left the transition team last week, declined to discuss specific numbers of EPA staff that could be targeted for pink slips.
CONTINUE READING

CDC Abruptly Cancels Long-Planned Conference on Climate Change and Health

By: Brady Dennis, Washington Post
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT — With little warning or explanation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently canceled a major climate change conference that had been scheduled for next month in Atlanta. The Climate and Health Summit, which had been in the works for months, was intended as a chance for public health officials around the country to learn more about the mounting evidence of the risks to human health posed by the changing climate. But CDC officials abruptly canceled the conference before President Trump’s inauguration, sending a terse email on Jan. 9 to those who had been scheduled to speak at the event. The message did not explain the reason behind the decision.
CONTINUE READING

Rise in Global Carbon Emissions Slows

By: Scott Waldman, ClimateWire, Scientific American
For anxious climate hawks fretting over the expected rollback of environmental regulations from the Donald Trump presidency, here is a small spot of good news: Global carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuel did not grow at all last year. What’s more, the carbon dioxide emissions that cause the Earth to warm may have plateaued even as the United States enters an era with a president promising to rejuvenate its depleted coal industry, experts said.
CONTINUE READING

Miami-Dade’s GOP Mayor on Sea-Level Rise: “It’s not a theory. It’s a fact. We live it every day.”

By: Douglas Hanks, The Miami Herald
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY — Hours before heading to Washington to witness Donald Trump become president, Miami-Dade’s Republican mayor offered a blunt message to skeptics of climate change and the crisis it presents the coast. “Let’s be clear, sea-level rise is a very serious concern for Miami-Dade County and all of South Florida,” Mayor Carlos Gimenez told the crowd Wednesday morning at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center during his annual State of the County address. “It’s not a theory. It’s a fact. We live it every day.”
CONTINUE READING

Hey, Florida, Get Ready for Less Perfect Weather as 2016 Marks Record Heat

By: Jenny Staletovich, The Miami Herald
ENVIRONMENT — Thank you, climate change: More bad news for South Florida. Not only will 2016 go down as the warmest year across the globe, but places like South Florida will likely see a drop in mild weather, the kind of days with near-perfect temperatures hovering between 64 and 86 degrees and little humidity. On Wednesday, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that 2016 set a new high, the third year in a row marking a new record and continuing a trend — ongoing for years — that scientists say is directly related to greenhouse gases and carbon trapping heat across the planet.
CONTINUE READING

North Beach Can Have Sensible Development

By: Matis Cohen, The Miami Herald
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR — Miami Beach’s North Beach neighborhood is in crisis. At the heart of the crisis is sea-level rise, MIMO apartments and misguided preservationists who are trying to tie the city’s hands. The nostalgic areas in North Beach have already been “locally designated” and protected for preservation. Activists associated with the Miami Design Preservation League are lobbying to preserve several multifamily properties, from 73rd to 87th streets and Harding Avenue to Crespi Boulevard, under the guise of revitalization.
CONTINUE READING

Climate Change Can’t Be Denied

By: Miami Herald Editorial Board
In a way, it’s a shame that President-elect Donald Trump’s resort here is located in Doral, rather than Miami Beach. If his property were closer to the water, we might be able to say: Welcome to our world, Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump said during the campaign that climate change is a hoax. But no amount of denial can shield those of us who live and work here, or visitors, from the visible impact of rising seas. Flooded streets are not a hoax. Just ask the folks in Miami Beach, who have to navigate underwater neighborhoods with increasing frequency.
CONTINUE READING

What Will a Trump Presidency Mean for Florida’s Environment?

By: Jenny Staletovich, The Miami Herald
At a rally in Collier County at the end of October, a day after he unveiled his “contract” with America, then-candidate Donald Trump rallied his supporters with talk of “crooked Hillary,” a rigged election system and the “real group of losers” running the country. Then, in the middle of 47-minute speech, he turned to a teleprompter and devoted just over a minute to Florida’s longest-running and most frustrating environmental conflict: Everglades restoration.
CONTINUE READING

Scientists say Climate Change Wiped Out an Entire Underwater Ecosystem. Again.

By: Chris Mooney, The Washington Post
We’ve heard a lot lately about the destruction of tropical coral reefs brought on by a warming climate. And that’s a big deal — corals are the lynchpin of entire undersea ecosystems. When they go, the damage reverberates widely and ultimately, even people pay the price. But something similar has been happening to corals’ more temperate cousins in many locations: Forests of kelp. These swaying seaweeds, too, anchor communities of diverse types of fish and other living organisms and, in turn, provide great value to humans through their contribution to fisheries. And recently, there has been some very troubling news for kelp.
CONTINUE READING

Looking For A Way To Stay: Key West Faces Rising Seas With Plans For Resiliency

By:Nancy Klingener, WLRN
When it comes to sea level rise, Key West is pretty much as vulnerable as it gets. The island’s average elevation is less than five feet above sea level. A tide gauge at Key West Harbor tracks the steady rise of the sea over the last century. But it’s the intermittent and increasing cases of nuisance flooding that have the city concerned. That’s when the streets become impassable just from heavy rains or high tides — or a combination of both.
CONTINUE READING

Preparing For Climate Change In The Nation’s Oldest City

By: Kate Payne, WLRN
Climate change in Florida is already taking its toll, in the form of rising temperatures, extreme weather events and shifting tides. The changes are sending archaeologists scrambling to protect the state’s historical resources. WFSU traveled to the country’s oldest city to tell this story.
CONTINUE READING

UM Climatologist: No Quick Fix For Sea Level Rise In South Florida

By: Gina Jordan, WLRN
Dr. Harold Wanless researches climate change as chair of the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Miami in Coral Gables. He documents coastal erosion caused by hurricane damage – and the impact of sea-level rise. Wanless calls South Florida the poster child for climate change.
CONTINUE READING

Sea-Level Rise Taking The Pines Out Of Big Pine Key

By:Nancy Klingener, WLRN
FLORIDA KEYS — Big Pine Key takes its name from the pine forests that cover the island, about 30 miles from Key West. Rare plants and endangered animals — such as the Key deer — live in those forests. But now the forests and hammocks are threatened by the rising seas around and beneath them.
CONTINUE READING

Having Kids Won’t Hurt the Planet If We Teach Them How to Save It

By: Katie Arnold, Outside
A few weeks ago, we were driving home from a family camping trip in southern Colorado, when an NPR story came on the radio about couples choosing not to have babies because of the mounting perils of climate change. The gist of the anti-child camp: more people equals more carbon emissions. This was definitely one of those moments when you sneak a peek in the rearview mirror to see if little ears are listening. They were. “Mama, what are they talking about?” my eight-year-old asked, perking up when she saw me hesitate. Kids her age are like mountain lions stalking their prey, ready to pounce at the first sign of uncertainty.
CONTINUE READING

Flooding of Coast Caused by Global Warming Has Already Begun

By: Justin Gillis, The New York Times
NORFOLK, Va. — Huge vertical rulers are sprouting beside low spots in the streets here, so people can judge if the tidal floods that increasingly inundate their roads are too deep to drive through. Five hundred miles down the Atlantic Coast, the only road to Tybee Island, Ga., is disappearing beneath the sea several times a year, cutting the town off from the mainland. And another 500 miles on, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., increased tidal flooding is forcing the city to spend millions fixing battered roads and drains — and, at times, to send out giant vacuum trucks to suck saltwater off the streets.
CONTINUE READING

Mystery Graffiti with Grim Message Appears on Abandoned SoBe Tower

By: Joey Flechas, The Miami Herald
MIAMI BEACH — Someone is clearly a pessimist when it comes to sea-level rise in Miami Beach — and not a fan of the city’s wealthy residents. South Beach residents woke up to a grim prediction painted in neat block letters across the top of the old abandoned South Shore Hospital: “YOUR MILLION DOLLAR HOUSES WILL SOON BE UNDERWATER.” Stephen Cohen, a resident of the Icon Condominium tower across Fifth Street, snapped a photo of the message and posted it to Facebook around 10 a.m. Tuesday. “Icon condo got a lil wake up message today,” he wrote, adding the social media hashtags #fsociety and #sobelife.
CONTINUE READING

Miami-Dade Could Ask Developers to Pay for Climate Change Costs

By: Jessica Lipscomb, Miami New Times
If you live in South Florida, you’ve probably come around to the idea of climate change and realized that, like it or not, sea levels are rising. But solutions to the problem are pricey, and there’s no clear consensus on how we’ll pay for the changes we need to continue living here. Four Miami-Dade commissioners have suggested an idea so new it doesn’t appear any other city has implemented it: Create new “impact fees” that would require developers to basically pay for their portion of the burden of sea-level-rise-related costs.
CONTINUE READING

Can New York Be Saved in the Era of Global Warming?

By: Jeff Goodell, RollingStone
It’s a bright spring day in New York, with sunlight dancing on the East River and robins singing Broadway tunes. I’m walking along the sea wall on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with Daniel Zarrilli, 41, the head of New York’s Office of Resilience and Recovery – basically Mayor Bill de Blasio’s point man for preparing the city for the coming decades of storms and sea-level rise. Zarrilli is dressed in his usual City Hall attire: white shirt and tie, polished black shoes. He has short-cropped gray hair, dark eyes and an edgy I’ve-got-a-job-to-do manner. Zarrilli may be the only person in the world who holds in his head the full catastrophe of what rising seas and increasingly violent storms mean to the greatest city in America.
CONTINUE READING

Regulators Ignored Turkey Point Salt Threat, Safety Board Finds

By: Jenny Staletovich, The Miami Herald
THE ENVIRONMENT — The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board this week found that nuclear regulators failed to consider a growing saltwater plume when they allowed Florida Power & Light to increase operating temperatures at the utility’s Turkey Point cooling canals two years ago to prevent an ongoing risk of a reactor shutdown. Despite the finding, the board also concluded that local measures taken in the last two years will likely address the plume that over the decades has moved more than five miles inland, threatening drinking-water supplies.
CONTINUE READING

TEDx Talk – Delaney Reynolds: The Sink or Swim Project

By: Delaney Reynolds, The Sink or Swim Project
In her impassioned TEDx Talk, Delaney Reynolds discusses the work of The Sink or Swim Project and the fact that today’s children “Get It”; They understand that their generation must solve the global climate change problem, as well as the political challenges our society faces as we work to change damaging behaviors and seek new solutions to our world’s climate crisis. She also provides examples for how sea level rise has already begun to impact South Florida’s fragile environment and how this growing problem will soon be catastrophic if we don’t urgently begin addressing it.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Miami-Dade’s Future May get Bleaker as Feds Study Coast

By: Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald
CLIMATE CHANGE — With sea rise projections growing ever grimmer — the latest predicts up to eight times as much flooding around Miami-Dade County by 2045 — the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has launched an ambitious plan to come up with a comprehensive assessment of risks that could easily run into the billions of dollars. Covering 10,000 miles of vulnerable shoreline from North Carolina to Mississippi, the study for the first time tries to unify what has so far been a patchwork of sea rise assessments.
CONTINUE READING

This Is What Climate Change Has Done To The Great Barrier Reef

By: Nick Visser, The Huffington Post
HUFFPOST SCIENCE — A new aerial survey of the Great Barrier Reef shows the vast extent of a “severe” bleaching event that’s caused widespread coral death over the past several weeks. The National Coral Bleaching Taskforce study found 95 percent of individual reefs in the most pristine section of the ecosystem showed severe bleaching. The research covered 520 reefs across more than 600 miles of coastline and found just four that didn’t show signs of damage.
CONTINUE READING

Putting an End to President’s Climate Regulations won’t be Easy

By: Cass Sunstein, Miami Herald/Bloomberg
OP-ED — Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have promised to get rid of a whole host of executive actions from the Obama administration. But there’s good reason to doubt how much would happen if one of them wins. The principal reason is simple: the law. Take climate change. Just last week, Trump and Cruz made it clear that they would want to reverse the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” which establishes that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare.
CONTINUE READING

Flooding Spiked Over Last Decade, Study Finds

By: Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald
MIAMI BEACH — If it seems like flooding in Miami Beach has gotten a lot worse a lot faster, it has. A new study from the University of Miami found that since 2006, flooding in Miami Beach has soared — 400 percent from high tides and 33 percent from rain. The increased flooding, calculated from insurance claims, media reports and tidal gauges, stems from a regional rise in sea levels well above global increases and serves as a warning that future sea rise will likely happen in different amounts at different rates around the planet.
CONTINUE READING

Miami-Dade Turns to Nature to Combat Sea-Level Rise

By: Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald
ENVIRONMENT — Miami-Dade County, long criticized for being too slow to take on climate change, is teaming up with the Nature Conservancy and global engineering firm CH2M to look at the region’s natural defenses to sea rise. On Tuesday, Chief Resilience Officer Jim Murley unveiled two pilot projects for the modeling, including the county’s sprawling wastewater treatment plant near Cutler Bay, where about $1 billion in infrastructure is already vulnerable to flooding from high tides and storms. Earlier this month, a new study found that if South Florida continues growing as projected, more of its residents will be at risk from sea rise than in any other state.
CONTINUE READING

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter Ten: “Looking to the Future”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
Whether we are looking at the economic consequences of rising seas and sunny day flooding, beaches as the lifeblood of Florida, or the importance of maintaining a healthy habitat and nesting grounds for sea turtles, something must be done. Chapter ten of the Ahead of the Tide is a call to action for anyone and everyone who wants to see a healthy and vibrant future for Florida’s coastal communities. Ensuring that we have resilient, beautiful beaches for generations to come can only be achieved when we are all engaged. It is time for all of us to step up and be the change we want to see.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Gov. Scott: Do you think if we ignore climate change, it goes away?

By: Leonard Pitts, Jr., Miami Herald
OP-ED — Dear Florida Gov. Rick Scott: So it turns out the experts were mistaken. It turns out the impact of climate change on Florida — and much of the coastal United States — is not going to be anywhere near as bad as had been predicted. Apparently, it’s going to be much worse. That’s the sobering finding of a study published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change. Previous scenarios, grim as they were, failed to take into account projected population growth. Factor that in, say the researchers, and the number of people likely to be affected by rising sea levels caused by melting polar ice caps explodes to triple the previous most dire estimates.
CONTINUE READING

How Miami Beach Is Keeping the Florida Dream Alive—And Dry

By: Sara Solovitch, Politico Magazine
MIAMI BEACH — Dan Kipnis, a retired fishing boat captain who answers to “Captain Dan,” drives along Indian Creek Road, counting off the mansions that he expects one day will vanish under rising seas. This is the road that floods when the tides are high and the waters of the adjoining canal wash over the sea walls, carrying fish, lapping at the gates of travertine palaces, destroying Ferraris, Maseratis and lesser cars. It’s the road that will in a few months carry Kipnis out of town to higher ground.
CONTINUE READING

Pinecrest Teen Teaches Others of Dangers of Sea Rise, Climate Change

By: Rodolfo Roman, Miami Herald
MIAMI — Pinecrest resident Robert Reynolds remembers taking his family for a boat ride to the Florida Keys. The trips to the ocean inspired his 16-year-old daughter, Palmer Trinity student Delaney Reynolds, to orchestrate an initiative with the goal of educating the public on climate change. Delaney, an 11th-grader, designed “The Sink or Swim Project,” which informs and engages all ages on rising sea levels. Her project has picked up so much steam that National Geographic recently recorded one of her presentations. The taping will be part of the show Years of Living Dangerously, which will air later this year.
CONTINUE READING

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter Nine: “Civic Engagement”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
Chapter Nine of Ahead of the Tide focuses on the various ways people have been engaging in the conversation to address the ongoing challenges of sea level rise. From joining marches in the streets to participating in public meetings to voting in leaders who are willing to work towards viable solutions, the public voice can bring about the necessary changes. Through these and other actions we must demand that we stay ahead of the tide.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Miami Beach Wants to Fast-Track Work to Battle Sea-Level Rise

By: Joey Flechas, Miami Herald
MIAMI BEACH — A mile-long stretch of road in Miami Beach that has become ground zero for South Florida’s problems with sea-level rise could get a new seawall and an anti-flooding pump over the next two years. Miami Beach and the Florida Department of Transportation are working out an agreement to split the anticipated $25 million it will take to safeguard the low-lying stretch of Indian Creek Drive that was the center of media attention when last fall’s king tides completely flooded the roadway. Images of tourists sloshing in several inches of water to get to their hotels became emblematic of the region’s struggles with seasonal tides that have grown worse in recent years.
CONTINUE READING

Kayak the Alaskan Glaciers of Blackstone Bay While They’re Still Here

By M.L. Lyke,The Washington Post
Another double rumble of thunder rips the air. It’s the sound of a nearby glacier calving, shucking huge slabs of ice into the sea and throwing a wake that ripples under my kayak. We’ve been paddling a couple of hours, and it’s all still a bit scary: the creaking, groaning 400-foot-high glaciers that dwarf our little boats; the Bunyan slam of their ice on water; the possibility of finding ourselves flipped upside down in these super-frigid seas. But the sun is out, the water is calm, and the adventure is on, with a nice, wild Alaska edge.
CONTINUE READING

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter Eight: “Local Solutions”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
We can no longer ignore what is happening in Florida’s coastal communities: the time has come for Florida to become a leader in how to adapt and address flooding, loss of water supplies, beach erosion, failing infrastructure and wildfires. As the state’s government continues to refuse to acknowledge the realities of sea level rise and climate change, Ahead of the Tide’s chapter 8 focuses on Floridians turning to local and regional government for solutions.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter Seven: “Sea Turtles”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
Sea turtles are an indicator species; they tell us how the beaches and marine environment are doing. Explored in Ahead of the Tide’s Chapter 7 is the symbiotic relationship between sea turtles and humans. Where turtles are successfully nesting, coastal environments are doing well. But where turtles are unable to nest, we see residents along those same beaches also at risk. It is crucial we understand how coastal development and sea level rise affects these majestic creatures and the habitats we share.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter Six: “Beach Access”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
Florida’s beaches are not only important economic drivers and assets for its citizens they are also part of their culture, health and welfare. In Chapter 6 of Ahead of the Tide, we examine the latest struggle for fair and sustainable beach access. From areas of recreation for Floridians and tourist alike to vital habitat areas for the unique and precious wildlife such as sea turtles, continued beach access is crucial for Florida and its brand to succeed.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter Five: “Managing the Beaches”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
As the sea level continues to rise, we face unique challenges in managing our beaches. Chapter 5 of Ahead of the Tide highlights various ways coastal towns and cities have begun to address eroding beaches. From the consequences of armoring the shore with more and more sea walls to the rising cost of continually renourishing our beaches, Floridians are speaking out about the need for new and enlightened policies to manage our coastal communities and beaches.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter Four: “Coastal Development”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
In Florida, we’ve drawn a line in the sand with intense coastal development. Chapter 4 of Ahead of the Tide explores the incentives, policies, and subsidies shaping our shoreline.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Al Gore: The Case for Optimism on Climate Change

By: Al Gore, The Climate Reality Project
In his latest TED Talk, Al Gore, founder and chairman of The Climate Reality Project, poses three questions that will determine the future of our planet – and why there’s good reason to be optimistic. Do we have to change? Can we change? And the big question: Will we change? In this challenging, inspiring talk, Gore says yes.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Temperature-Driven Global Sea Level Variability in the Common Era

By: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
We assess the relationship between temperature and global sea-level (GSL) variability over the Common Era through a statistical meta analysis of proxy relative sea-level reconstructions and tide-gauge data. A significant GSL acceleration began in the 19th century and yielded a 20th century rise that is extremely likely faster than during any of the previous 27 centuries.
CONTINUE READING

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter Three: “The Political Climate”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
Florida is one of the most exposed areas in the United States in terms of the economic consequences of sea level rise. In Chapter 3 of Ahead of the Tide, concerned local residents speak to the economic sustainability of continued coastal development and the impact on the quality of life for all Floridians. They are urging state government to engage on sound coastal and climate policy.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Seas Are Rising at Fastest Rate in Last 28 Centuries

By: Justin Gillis, The New York Times
The worsening of tidal flooding in American coastal communities is largely a consequence of greenhouse gases from human activity, and the problem will grow far worse in coming decades, scientists reported Monday. Those emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels, are causing the ocean to rise at the fastest rate since at least the founding of ancient Rome, the scientists said. They added that in the absence of human emissions, the ocean surface would be rising less rapidly and might even be falling.
CONTINUE READING

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter Two: “Sea Level Rise”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
Florida is ground zero for sea level rise. Chapter 2 of Ahead of the Tide explains why seas are rising and why Florida is especially at risk. We explore from the geography to the geology why Floridians are already being affected by rising seas and “sunny day flooding” in their everyday lives.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Ahead of the Tide – Chapter One: “Florida’s Lifeblood”

By: CAVU/Ahead of the Tide
Beaches are part of the lifeblood of the state of Florida – and right now they are under threat. This opening chapter of Ahead of the Tide introduces us to the various factors affecting one of the most important aspects of the sunshine state: our natural sandy beaches.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

That Sinking Feeling

By: Nathalie Baptiste, The American Prospect
Why is Miami—America’s most vulnerable metropolis to sea-level rise—having yet another beachfront development boom? Even from thousands of feet in the air, it’s obvious that Miami is disturbingly low-lying. Luxury sky-high buildings, bridges, and cranes tower over swampy marshlands and the slowly rising sea. The latest development has resulted in a sprawling metropolis on sinking land. Rising seas combine with porous limestone—which is like Swiss cheese—to allow saltwater to infiltrate under the land during floods, and makes the greater Miami area the most climate-vulnerable place in the United States.
CONTINUE READING

Ahead of the Tide – Trailer

By: CAVU
Ahead of the Tide is an independent movement launching a 10 part video series in February 2016, highlighting the effects of sea level rise and climate change through the stories and voices of local Floridians. Each short video (5 to 7 minutes) will showcase various aspects concerning sea level rise and will include interviews with prominent scientists, engineers, politicians, conservation directors, educators, authors, and activists, including Florida Native and acclaimed writer Carl Hiaasen and The Sink or Swim Project’s very own Delaney Reynolds.
CONTINUE TO VIDEO

Palmer Trinity Members Invited to Attend Al Gore’s Climate Reality Training

By: Teresa Estefan for Palmer Trinity School
Three members of the Palmer Trinity School (PTS) community including parent Jenny May Arias, eleventh-grade student Delaney Reynolds, and science teacher Dr. Leopoldo Llinas were recently selected to attend the Climate Reality Leadership Corps event hosted by the environmental nonprofit organization, Climate Reality Project. Nobel Laureate, former U.S. Vice President and founder of the Climate Reality Project, Al Gore, opened the event. He addressed 750 guests in attendance at the three-day training event held at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami, which included a global network of leaders committed to solving the climate crisis.
CONTINUE READING

The Sink or Swim Project on Climate.gov

By: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The science and statistics are staggering. Over the next few decades sea level rise will devastate and change every coastal community on the planet as well as many adjacent inland areas and will have a profound impact on social, biological, political and economic aspects all over the world. Nowhere will the impact be more devastating, or more critical, than in South Florida. The Sink or Swim Project is designed to educate, inform and engage the generations, both young people alive today and those who are about to be born, who will inherit sea level rise and who must work together to solve it.
CONTINUE READING

Climate Change 2014 – Mitigation of Climate Change

By: Cambridge University Press
Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change is the third part of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — Climate Change 2013 / 2014 — and was prepared by its Working Group III. The volume provides a comprehensive and transparent assessment of relevant options for mitigating climate change through limiting or preventing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as activities that reduce their concentrations in the atmosphere.
CONTINUE READING

Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force Report & Recommendations

By: Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force
Sea Level Rise is an inevitable consequence of the warming of the oceans and the accelerated melting of the planet’s ice sheets -regardless of cause. It is a measurable, trackable and relentless reality. Without innovative adaptive capital planning it will threaten trillions of dollars of the region’s built environment, our future water supply, our unique natural resources, our agricultural soils, and our basic economy.
CONTINUE READING

Climate Model Uncertainty

By: The Lighthill Risk Network
There is overwhelming scientific consensus that the climate is changing and that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from human (anthropogenic) activities is largely responsible. The expected rate of warming depends on the level of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere but it also depends on the sensitivity of the climate to the changes we make.
CONTINUE READING

The Climate Has Changed

By: We Mean Business Coalition
A group of companies identified in this report are demonstrating bold leadership on climate action driven by the risks and opportunities they know climate change will bring to their businesses. Smart policy from leading governments at all levels is creating opportunities for low carbon innovation that is helping to drive the transition to a low carbon economy.
CONTINUE READING

The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact Document Library

The Compact Document Library includes documents under the following categories:

Mayor’s Climate Action Pledge
RCAP Implementation Support Guidance Series
Regional Compact as Ratified by the Counties
Southeast Florida Regional Climate Action Plan
Supporting Documents & Workshop Documents

Florida Officials Banned the Term “Climate Change,” But the Insurance Industry Knows Better

By: Rebecca Leber, The New Republic
For years, Florida had an unwritten rule banning state environmental officials from using the terms “climate change” or “global warming” in any of their communication, including emails and reports. Rather than discuss the issue of sea level rise directly, the Department of Environmental Protection substituted words like “climate drivers” and “climate-driven changes,” according to the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting. The policy began in 2011 under Governor Rick Scott, the state’s top climate change denier.
CONTINUE READING

Leader of Island Nation Advocates Exit Strategy for Rising Seas

By: Kenneth R. Weiss, National Geographic
SOUTH TARAWA, Kiribati—It’s rare to find the leader of a country who speaks as passionately about climate change as Anote Tong does. Then again, his country of 110,000 people makes the short list of places most vulnerable to climate change.
CONTINUE READING

Miami Archaeological Dig Unearths Evidence of Sea Rise

By: Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald
MIAMI — In the shadows of a condo canyon rising around the mouth of the Miami River, archaeologists have unearthed what they say is concrete evidence of South Florida’s escalating rise in sea level.
CONTINUE READING

Goodbye, Miami

By: Jeff Goodell, RollingStone
When the water receded after Hurricane Milo of 2030, there was a foot of sand covering the famous bow-tie floor in the lobby of the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach. A dead manatee floated in the pool where Elvis had once swum. Most of the damage occurred not from the hurricane’s 175-mph winds, but from the 24-foot storm surge that overwhelmed the low-lying city. In South Beach, the old art-deco buildings were swept off their foundations. Mansions on Star Island were flooded up to their cut-glass doorknobs. A 17-mile stretch of Highway A1A that ran along the famous beaches up to Fort Lauderdale disappeared into the Atlantic.
CONTINUE READING

Miami Finds Itself Ankle-Deep in Climate Change Debate

By: Coral Davenport, The New York Times
MIAMI BEACH — The sunny-day flooding was happening again. During high tide one recent afternoon, Eliseo Toussaint looked out the window of his Alton Road laundromat and watched bottle-green saltwater seep from the gutters, fill the street and block the entrance to his front door.
CONTINUE READING

Rising Seas

By: Tim Folger, National Geographic
By the time Hurricane Sandy veered toward the Northeast coast of the United States last October 29, it had mauled several countries in the Caribbean and left dozens dead. Faced with the largest storm ever spawned over the Atlantic, New York and other cities ordered mandatory evacuations of low-lying areas. Not everyone complied. Those who chose to ride out Sandy got a preview of the future, in which a warmer world will lead to inexorably rising seas.
CONTINUE READING

Miami, The Great World City, is Drowning While The Powers That Be Look Away

By: Robin McKie, The Guardian
A drive through the sticky Florida heat into Alton Road in Miami Beach can be an unexpectedly awkward business. Most of the boulevard, which runs north through the heart of the resort’s most opulent palm-fringed real estate, has been reduced to a single lane that is hemmed in by bollards, road-closed signs, diggers, trucks, workmen, stacks of giant concrete cylinders and mounds of grey, foul-smelling earth.
CONTINUE READING

Sea Level Rise in South Florida: Expect Floods, Sea Wall Woes

By: David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel
President Obama’s top environmental adviser came to Fort Lauderdale Thursday to express the administration’s commitment to fighting global warming and protecting the nation from rising sea levels.
CONTINUE READING

South Florida Sea Level Rise Needs Urgent Action: Task Force

By: David Adams, Reuters
(Reuters) – South Florida’s coastal real estate may become uninsurable as the sea level rises unless Miami’s county government takes urgent action, a task force said on Tuesday.
CONTINUE READING

A Rising Concern: The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Florida

By: Lilly Rockwell, Florida Trend
Forget the argument over what may be causing it — if we take seriously the idea that the sea level could rise by more than seven inches in the next 30 years, what should Florida communities be doing about it, and how much will it cost?
CONTINUE READING

As Sea Levels Rise, Is Miami Doomed?

By: Terrell Johnson, The Weather Channel
With a population of more than 5.5 million living at an elevation of just 6 feet above sea level, Miami will be one of the nation’s first major metropolitan areas to feel the impacts of climate change.
CONTINUE READING

The Seige of Miami

By: Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker
The city of Miami Beach floods on such a predictable basis that if, our of curiosity of sheer perversity, a person wants to she can plan a visit to coincide with an inundation.
CONTINUE READING

Florida’s Case of Climate Denial: A Tale of Two Governors

By: Tristram Korten, Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
When Charlie Crist was Florida’s attorney general and preparing to run for governor in 2005, he sat down in a private room at the Biltmore Hotel in Miami with U.S. Sen. John McCain. McCain was gearing up to run for president. The two Republicans talked political campaigns, strategies and endorsements.
CONTINUE READING

Letter from Beijing: In 2015, Smog Struck Fear into China’s Leaders

By: Stuart Leavenworth, McClatchy DC
There’s an outdoor shopping center near my Beijing apartment called “The Place.” Every night, the giant overhead screen there is lit up with images of the Chinese Dream – karst mountains, ancient temples, families playing under blue skies.

A few weeks ago, during one of the city’s bouts with air pollution, I walked through The Place, wearing my smog mask and feeling sorry for a janitor who lacked one. He was sweeping the soot away from a newly installed Christmas tree.
CONTINUE READING