Miami Waterworld? It Could Happen

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Rising-seas-keeping-pace-with-rising-public-skepticism-over-climate-change-88008527.html

Miami Waterworld? It Could Happen

World's top Arctic scientists meeting in Miami: Ground Zero for sea level rise

By JEFF BURNSIDE
Updated 8:00 AM EDT, Wed, Mar 17, 2010

...

New scientific data says the sea is rising faster than anyone thought and under worst-case scenarios, much of Miami and South Florida could be under water by the end of the century, unless drastic measures are taken soon.

...

Yet climate skeptics and scandals are convincing more and more of the public that the science is wrong. "The world's greatest hoax," said one politician.

"It is hard to believe for me, in a time when we have such sophisticated technology where people have the facts that they choose to ignore the facts, and go with emotion and almost a faith-based reaction," said Peter Schloesser of Columbia University and chair of the conference organizing committee. "So in that sense it is clearly disappointing. At the same time, we have to overcome that and keep doing our work."

...

The debate from skeptics who are non-scientists hits Kadko hard. “Absolutely. It's very frustrating. I think it's a great disservice to the populace not to get a clear, fair debate,” he said.

...

[dipsydoodle]

1. I think Manhatten might actually go first.

so now could be the time to secure a boat yard there. :sarcasm:

[damyank913]

2. Yeah. Wall Street sits pretty low. This might be a good thing.

[dipsydoodle]

4. I only knew that

cos I checked out of curiosity on Google Earth ages ago. Try scrolling across wherever you live. Where I am in the UK I think is 265 feet above sea level.

:hi:

[damyank913]

6. I think lower Manhattan is mostly landfill. Not much more than 10 feet above sea level.

I'm on the Virginia coast and I'm about 13 feet above sea level.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. No, Miami's not as low as New Orleans, but it's below New York City

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City

Elevation 33 ft (10 m)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami

Elevation 6 ft (2 m)

Both are port cities, and both have their high and low points, but, in much of Miami, there's a real distinct feeling of being at sea level.

[damyank913]

7. I can tell you for sure that much of NYC is NOT that high.

[OKIsItJustMe]

9. Like I said, there are high points and low points

It's not all "Battery Park." (Nor is it all "Fort Washington.")

(Fort Washington is higher in elevation than most of Florida.)

[damyank913]

10. Yeah Washington Heights is pretty elevated.

Having grown up in NYC I can tell you that you are absolutely correct about the highs and lows.:toast:

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Flood map here:

http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=40.6903,-74.0733&z=5&m=3

You can vary the sea level rise from 0m to 14m (it looks at land height, so doesn't show where existing flood defences would actually prevent flooding - a rise of 1m floods a lot of New Orleans, but the defences might prevent that).

[OKIsItJustMe]

12. Very nice. Thanks!

I wish the flood waters were a bit more opaque though.

Of course whether we're talking about Miami or Manhattan, the real killer would be storm surge (not mean sea level.)

---

FWIW: It looks like Jersey City (no small town) will be in a lot worse hurt than New York City when the water rises.

[liberal N proud]

3. Miami was carved out of a swamp to begin with

[dipsydoodle]

8. Yup

That was back in the days when it was ok to end a sentence with a preposition. :rofl:

:hi:

[Javaman]

13. The movie "Coconuts" with the Marx Brothers, was based around the land grab of south florida. nt