Why Miami is Sinking
The issue of climate change has been affecting Miami with reports of floods from ocean waters reported frequently. According to intergovernmental panel, climate change is predicted to lead to a rise of sea level by more than three feet at the end of twenty first century (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, 2016). As such, floods will be a common issue hence the perception that Miami is sinking. The sea level keeps changing as influenced by climate change. However, the altitude of the location does not change, hence, dire consequences are witnessed in case of floods where property loss and even loss of lives is encountered. According to the NOAA (2016), the only way Miami can cope up with the situation is to learn living with the changing sea level or else influence climate change, which necessitates international unity.
Miami’s sinking problem is associated with floods, which lead to people perceiving that the region is going beyond sea level. However, this is due to the rise of sea level. Moreover, Miami is established within a swampy region hence an incline in sea level which leads to high tides leads to an increase in water within Miami, which cause most basements and infrastructure such as tarmacked road to be covered under water (NOAA, 2016). In the past, barricades that were high enough to restrict sea water from interfering with the activities in the city were enacted. However, these barricades are not high enough to restrict the high tides which are associated with sea level rise. Subsequently, sea water breaks above the present barricades flooding most low level areas in Miami hence cause floods. A report by Ruggeri (2017) points out that the issue of high tides which cannot be controlled by the barricades affect regions such as Dade County by causing floods up to the doorsteps of most families. The issue of flooding, which is an environmental issue, can be a challenge to any community because it leads to a standstill of activities necessary for economic growth and also leads to a decline in economy from property loss.
High tides known as King tides are reported to cause immense destruction of property. Property within beaches is prone to damage since the waters surpass the beach and event extend to residential areas in some higher grounds. A 2006 report from the University of Miami reported an incline in sea level beyond the global rate recorded previously (Ruggeri, 2017). With such a high rate of sea level, the city of Miami is not well equipped with the necessary strategies of combatting such high sea levels. This leads to the perception that the city is sinking because the strategies in place are not sufficient to prevent the fast rising sea level which results with frequent floods. Some of the climatic factors that have contributed to the “sinking” of Miami include constant temperature rise in the planet. This climatic issue which is linked with global warming results with melting of ice in both Antarctica and Greenland (Ruggeri, 2017). Melting of ice results in increase in water hence distribution of water in the planet is altered. Such increase results with waters rising in the sea hence extending to land neighboring the sea such as Miami. In addition, destroying of some natural resource, such as lagoons and mangrove, that act as natural barrier to rising sea water lead to the water extending to neighboring land.
Miami government tries to build infrastructure such as roads at high levels to prevent submerging of the roads in flood water (Ruggeri, 2017). Moreover, some of the facilities such as playing grounds are constructed in a way that they can accommodate extra water in case of floods. To live in such environment, the residents are also taught to cope up with floods by having a boat and even swimming (NOAA, 2016). In fact, swimming lessons are made mandatory for all children in Miami to alleviate the possibility of drowning in case of floods. If global action is not taken, Miami may be completely submerged in future based on reports of most geologists.
References
NOAA. (2016). Adapting to Sea Level Rise in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Coast.noaa.gov. Retrieved from https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/stories/slr-miamidade
Ruggeri, A. (2017). Miami’s fight against rising seas. Bbc.com. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170403-miamis-fight-against-sea-level-rise
