Risk and the Response to Sea Level Rise in South Florida

Risk and the Response to Sea Level Rise in South Florida
Author: Galen Treuer
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2017
Genre:
ISBN:

South Florida's low elevation, intensive urban development, and delicate ecosystems make it vulnerable to sea level rise. A gap exists between the current policies local governments in South Florida pursue and adaptation that could significantly reduce their exposure to climate change risks. One reason for this gap is that climate adaptation requires a transition away from the status quo, and barriers impede change. This dissertation presents three studies that aim to help communities in the region embrace and address their climate change risks. Chapter 2 reports the findings of an immersive simulation experiment that accelerates South Florida homeowners through thirty-five years of sea level rise and finds a window for local government action. Over 70% of homeowners are willing to support public investments in adaptation, and though most are not worried now, as sea levels rise homeowners become increasingly worried and willing to move out of the region. Chapter 3 is a case study of local government response, in the City of Miami Beach. Applying the new Urgency, Barriers, and Risk framework, it describes the implementation of a $500 million climate adaptive stormwater infrastructure investment, during a period of accelerated policy change. Chapter 4 identifies a new role, the neo-oliemannetje, that has emerged in the Netherlands over the past two decades to support climate adaptive water management projects. The neo-oliemannetje is a third-party facilitators whose role is to build consensus and articulate co-benefits to overcome barriers to policy change. Chapter 5 concludes with recommendations for local governments and future research.

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise in South Florida

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise in South Florida
Author: Risa Palm
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 140
Release: 2020-01-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030326020

South Florida is frequently cited as the part of the United State of America as most susceptible to the devastation accompanying sea level rise. Several scholarly studies have shown the negative impact of coastal location in Florida on housing values. Are the residents of South Florida concerned? Is susceptibility to sea level rise actually affecting the housing market in terms of demand, the availability of home mortgages, or house prices? Are people living at particular risk from sea level rise aware of this risk and more open to new information about climate change? Do they support policies and laws to mitigate the pace and extent of climate change? Answers to these questions are not only of general interest, but they are also key to our understanding of the human dimensions of this problem. This book describes the results of a detailed survey in which respondents viewed a local map displaying flooding to their own community that would result from a Category 3 hurricane in 2033. It discusses political party identification and ideology that has an overwhelming impact in shaping views about sea level rise and climate change. This book has enormous implications for the effectiveness of communicating risk information. The text is important if we, as a nation, are to design communication strategies that will lead to broader policy to combat or mitigate this risk.

Housing Market Response to Sea-Level Rise in Florida

Housing Market Response to Sea-Level Rise in Florida
Author: Risa Palm
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2021-11-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 303088435X

South Florida continues to attract new residents despite its susceptibility to sea-level rise. This book explores the views of real estate agent with respect to how prospective homebuyers assess the risk of flooding. It reports on their observations as to whether house prices are stagnant or falling in coastal areas vulnerable to flooding, and their conclusions after working with prospective homebuyers as to whether coastal south Florida is a good place to find a home or, alternatively, a risky investment in a place that will eventually be submerged by rising seas. The book reports on a 2020 survey of real estate agents and concludes that it is not clear that the housing market has integrated flood risk either into reduced demand for housing or in reduced prices for houses susceptible to flooding. These conclusions have important implications for understanding how the risks of climate change and sea-level rise are reflected in the housing market both now and in the near-term future.

The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate

The Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate
Author: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 755
Release: 2022-04-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781009157971

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It provides policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of human-induced climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. This IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate is the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of the observed and projected changes to the ocean and cryosphere and their associated impacts and risks, with a focus on resilience, risk management response options, and adaptation measures, considering both their potential and limitations. It brings together knowledge on physical and biogeochemical changes, the interplay with ecosystem changes, and the implications for human communities. It serves policymakers, decision makers, stakeholders, and all interested parties with unbiased, up-to-date, policy-relevant information. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Perceived Risk Versus Actual Risk to Sea-level Rise

Perceived Risk Versus Actual Risk to Sea-level Rise
Author: Keren P. Bolter
Publisher:
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2014
Genre: Climatic changes
ISBN:

Global climate change stressors downscale to specific local vulnerabilities, requiring customized adaptation strategies. Southeast Florida has a high likelihood of sea-level rise impact to due to the low-lying porous limestone geology. High risk is coupled with high exposure due to high-valued coastal properties, productive ecosystems, and dense populations. Coastal populations are particularly at risk due to erosion, inundation and storm surge, but interior populations are also susceptible to rising water tables and extended periods of inundation. All of these impacts are amplified by sea-level rise. Robust sea-level rise adaptation options require significant economic costs. If perceived risk does not adequately line up with actual risk, lack of funds and preparation will prevent implementation of the most effective strategies. This study aimed to compare perceived risk to actual risk to sea-level rise in residential areas of Broward County, Florida. Perceived risk of residents was measured via an online survey and subsequently layered over actual risk in terms of flooding, storm surge, and loss of property. Using GIS, a composite vulnerability index was constructed for the actual risk and paralleled to survey responses. A spatial and statistical analysis identified the key factors influencing perceived risk. Results characterize the accuracy of risk perception in Broward County by determining if individual respondents overestimate, underestimate, or correctly estimate risks from each impact. Other distinct concerns of residents, voiced through open-response question, were evaluated qualitatively. Results suggest that perceived vulnerability is misaligned with actual vulnerability to the sea-level rise impacts explored here. Spatial patterns show that moving from north to south in the county, a shift from low to high-risk parallels a shift from overestimating to underestimating risk of property loss and storm surge. For groundwater flooding, a similar shift occurs, but the trend from overestimating to underestimating risk moves from east to west. Many concerns of residents were financial, but most related to personal experience. There are many opportunities for resilience that require communication, preparation and adaptation. Results show that effective risk communication should be tailored to the audience, and it is first and foremost to direct outreach towards low income populations in southeastern Broward County.

The Water Will Come

The Water Will Come
Author: Jeff Goodell
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2018-08-07
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780316260206

"An immersive, mildly gonzo and depressingly well-timed book about the drenching effects of global warming, and a powerful reminder that we can bury our heads in the sand about climate change for only so long before the sand itself disappears." (Jennifer Senior, New York Times) A New York Times Critics' Top Book of 2017One of Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction in 2017One of Booklist's Top 10 Science Books of 2017 What if Atlantis wasn't a myth, but an early precursor to a new age of great flooding? Across the globe, scientists and civilians alike are noticing rapidly rising sea levels, and higher and higher tides pushing more water directly into the places we live, from our most vibrant, historic cities to our last remaining traditional coastal villages. With each crack in the great ice sheets of the Arctic and Antarctica, and each tick upwards of Earth's thermometer, we are moving closer to the brink of broad disaster. By century's end, hundreds of millions of people will be retreating from the world's shores as our coasts become inundated and our landscapes transformed. From island nations to the world's major cities, coastal regions will disappear. Engineering projects to hold back the water are bold and may buy some time. Yet despite international efforts and tireless research, there is no permanent solution-no barriers to erect or walls to build-that will protect us in the end from the drowning of the world as we know it. The Water Will Come is the definitive account of the coming water, why and how this will happen, and what it will all mean. As he travels across twelve countries and reports from the front lines, acclaimed journalist Jeff Goodell employs fact, science, and first-person, on-the-ground journalism to show vivid scenes from what already is becoming a water world.

Disposable City

Disposable City
Author: Mario Alejandro Ariza
Publisher: Bold Type Books
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2020-07-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1568589980

A deeply reported personal investigation by a Miami journalist examines the present and future effects of climate change in the Magic City -- a watery harbinger for coastal cities worldwide. Miami, Florida, is likely to be entirely underwater by the end of this century. Residents are already starting to see the effects of sea level rise today. From sunny day flooding caused by higher tides to a sewer system on the brink of total collapse, the city undeniably lives in a climate changed world. In Disposable City, Miami resident Mario Alejandro Ariza shows us not only what climate change looks like on the ground today, but also what Miami will look like 100 years from now, and how that future has been shaped by the city's racist past and present. As politicians continue to kick the can down the road and Miami becomes increasingly unlivable, real estate vultures and wealthy residents will be able to get out or move to higher ground, but the most vulnerable communities, disproportionately composed of people of color, will face flood damage, rising housing costs, dangerously higher temperatures, and stronger hurricanes that they can't afford to escape. Miami may be on the front lines of climate change, but the battle it's fighting today is coming for the rest of the U.S. -- and the rest of the world -- far sooner than we could have imagined even a decade ago. Disposable City is a thoughtful portrait of both a vibrant city with a unique culture and the social, economic, and psychic costs of climate change that call us to act before it's too late.

Will Miami Survive?

Will Miami Survive?
Author: Kathleen Sullivan Sealey
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 75
Release: 2018-05-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783319790190

This SpringerBrief uses a complexity perspective to integrate risk, finance, and ecological issues in Miami, USA. It focuses on how the modern financial system, particularly the mortgage market, perceives and manages the risk of climate change. Authors Kathleen Sealey, Ray King Burch and P.-M. Binder offer the case study of South Florida to illustrate how landscapes can be either re-purposed to function ecologically when residents relocate or rebuilt to reduce the threat of future flooding, the tools needed to make these decisions, and how financial systems view and influence them. While the need to integrate financial markets into coastal (and environmental) management is increasingly recognized, the difficulty of this task is made greater by the speed of financial innovation and the obscurity and complexity of its practices. This book will discuss the innovative Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact, and the success of public-private partnerships in planning and adapting to sea level rise, but also the broad disconnect with the cash-and-credit-driven real estate market of South Florida. The book presents an interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of the coupled human (including finance) and natural systems in coastal cities, thus breaking new ground in the approach towards sustainability research and education. The final chapter introduces the social component of resilience which include pre-disaster outreach with and the potential for decision theory to help people understand and manage risk.

A New Coast

A New Coast
Author: Jeffrey Peterson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2019-11-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1642830127

More severe storms and rising seas will inexorably push the American coastline inland with profound impact on communities, infrastructure, and natural systems. In A New Coast, Jeffrey Peterson presents the science behind predictions for coastal impacts and explains how current policies fall short of what's needed to prepare for these changes. He outlines a framework of bold, new national policies and funding to support local and state governments. Peterson calls for engagement of citizens, the private sector, as well as local and national leaders in a "campaign for a new coast." This is a forward-looking volume offering new insights for policymakers, planners, business leaders preparing for the changes coming to America's coast.

Retreat from a Rising Sea

Retreat from a Rising Sea
Author: Orrin H. Pilkey
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2016-05-24
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0231541805

This sobering examination of climate-change and the disastrous effects of rising sea levels explains what must be done to avoid the worst outcomes. By the end of this century, hundreds of millions of people living at low elevations along coasts will be forced to retreat to higher and safer ground. Because of sea-level rise, major storms will inundate areas farther inland and will lay waste to critical infrastructure, such as water-treatment and energy facilities, creating vast, irreversible pollution by decimating landfills and toxic-waste sites. Retreat from a Rising Sea explains in gripping terms what rising oceans will do to coastal cities—detailing the specific threats faced by Miami, New Orleans, New York, and Amsterdam. This policy-oriented book then lays out the drastic actions we must take now to remove vulnerable populations. Aware of the overwhelming social, political, and economic challenges that would accompany effective action, the authors consider the burden to the taxpayer and the logistics of moving landmarks and infrastructure, including toxic-waste sites. They also show readers the alternative: thousands of environmental refugees, with no legitimate means to regain what they have lost. The authors conclude with effective approaches for addressing climate-change denialism and powerful arguments for reforming U.S. federal coastal management policies.