Miami during Hurricane Irma in 2017. Image by Kevin Hagan for the NY Times
“Climate Change,” according to Ban Ki Moon and Francis Suarez, writing in the New York Times, here, “is not a distant threat for Miami; it’s a daily presence in people’s lives. The city has been fighting to stay above water for decades. It knows that its future as a vibrant international hub for business, tourism, arts and culture depends on making the city more resilient to the impact of global warming.”
Eileen Mignoni, In “Flooding is the new normal in Miami In Miami,” here, in Yale Climate Connections, wrote, “sea-level rise is not a problem for future generations. It’s a present-day reality.
Moon, the former Secretary General of the U.N. and Suarez, Miami’s Mayor, wrote,
The Coming Once A Year Flood
If emissions continue to grow and sea levels respond moderately, by 2100 about 10 percent of the city of Miami will be below the height of a once-a-year coastal flood. Map shows areas likely to be affected, absent resilience measures, during an event that could typically be driven by higher-than-usual tides and non-hurricane winds.
By saying “Annual flooding by 2100 [in 81 years],” Moon and Suarez seem to be saying, “Don’t worry. We have time.” They are doing the people of Miami and the readers of The New York Times a disservice. Miami is already flooding on an annual basis, and has been since 2013, if not earlier.
Here’s anecdotal evidence from the news media.
2018, Kevin Loria, Business Insider, “Cities around the US are flooding at high tide and on sunny days at record rates.”
2017, Brian McNoldy, The Washington Post, “The Miami area endured an absurd flooding event Tuesday afternoon”
2016, Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald, “Miami Beach flooding spiked over last decade, UM study finds”
Also in 2016, Joey Flechas, Miami Herald, “The king tide is high, but South Florida is holding on”
2015, Elizabeth Kolbert, in The New Yorker, wrote, “The Siege of Miami, As temperatures climb, so, too, will sea levels.”
and also in 2015 on Directac123, “The 10 Worst Floods In Florida History”
2014, Robin McKie, The Guardian, “Miami, the great world city, is drowning while the powers that be look away”
2013 on YouTube, a mash-up of flooding.
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A co-founder of Popular Logistics, I hold an MBA in “Managing for Sustainability” from Marlboro College and a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology from the City University of New York College of Staten Island. I also hold a PMI’s PMP and CompTIA’s Network+ certifications. Available as a speaker and consultant, I can be reached at “Popular Logistics . com” as “L Furman.”