Is Miami the new Canary in the Coalmine for Climate Change?

Streets in Miami Beach’s Sunset Harbour are being raised an incredible 2+ feet to combat the rising ocean water resulting from Climate Change. Photo Courtesy: Stavros Mitchelides

Greetings! You probably know that I’ve been blogging about climate change for a while now. Unfortunately, climate change news isn’t getting any better. Today I’d like to look at how climate change is rearranging neighborhoods and streets in Miami, Florida. As a result, should we say that Miami is the new canary in the coalmine for climate change? It sure seems that way.

Miami Beach authorities are raising streets there in an effort to protect the city from encroaching sea levels. And get this…

…The city of Miami is raising streets in its Sunset Harbour and West Avenue neighborhoods by an extraordinary 2 feet! The locals said, “we are all well aware that every year, we are seeing our streets flooded with more and more water.” Sea level rise is invading the West Avenue and Sunset Harbour areas, which have been consistently underwater. So raising the streets is the city’s solution to this increasing issue.

Mr. Eric Carpenter, Public Works Director explained, “It doesn’t make any sense to disturb the street twice. We’re moving forward with the storm water improvements. What we’re trying to do now is get a consensus from the community that we want to move forward with everything else on that street so that we don’t have to come back later and tear it up again. With the newly raised road, they would create different transitions from the road to the sidewalks depending on the adjacent property.”

Mr. Bruce Mowry, Miami city engineer said, “the western side of South Beach is ‘ground zero’ for the effects of global sea-level rise. I’m not going to stop sea-level rise, but we are here to try to mitigate.”

Several past blogs of mine demonstrated with solid scientific data the mounting evidence that climate change is not exclusive to Miami Beach. At the bottom of this blog, I will have links where you can read more on related stories about climate change.

Miami Beach is taking aggressive steps and is extremely proactive with climate change. This includes installing storm water pump stations, raising roads, and also increasing the urban forest. Additionally, the City of Miami is a member of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact. This is a “regional partnership among the municipalities of Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe, and Palm Beach counties geared towards coordinating climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.”

The Compact put together projections on sea level rise from climate change with scientific data gathered from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Here is what they said…

Sea levels have risen 3 inches since only 1992.” The sea level rise scenarios developed by this group estimates “an increase in sea level of approximately 12 inches by 2030, up to 34 inches by 2060, and up to 81 inches by 2100.”

As more news on climate change becomes available, I blog about it!

If you are in Florida and you see a sick or injured manatee, please call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at: 1-888-404-FWCC. They are the folks who are responsible for rescuing us in Florida.

Here’s the Save the Manatee Club link to learn more about us manatees …

www.savethemanatee.org

Here’s a cool link for you to learn more about how we’re rescued and brought into rehabilitation …

www.wildtracks.org

~ Kobee Manatee

 

Related Posts

NASA Reveals Solid Scientific Evidence “Climate Change” is Undoubtedly Real! (August 25, 2016)

A National Geographic’s Top 20 Must-See Haven Sinking into Rising Waters of Climate Change! (March 9, 2017)

Record Breaking February 2017 Temperatures – Compliments of Climate Change? (March 2, 2017)

2016 – Third Consecutive Year For Record Breaking Temperatures! (January 5, 2017)

Climate Change Creates “Ghost Forests” Haunting Mid-Atlantic Coast! (October 5, 2016)