Miami might be underwater by 2100, but what can we do?

It is getting warmer and warmer month after month, and it does not seem to stop anytime soon.

Temperatures are not the only indicator that global warming is more than a threat, it’s already a reality. The area covered by sea ice has shrunk every year for the past 30 years, with an average decrease of 3.2% per decade.

Glaciers, an essential source of water for many regions are also retreating at an alarming pace. Glacier National Park only has 25 of the estimated 150 glaciers that existed in the 1800s. The amount of heat absorbed by the oceans have increased over the past two decades which threatens the livelihoods of coral reefs and marine ecosystems. Warmer air near the oceans has triggered stronger and more frequent precipitations and hurricanes. The increase of global temperatures has also led to sea levelrising at a rate of 0.04 to 0.1 inches per year since 1990 and according to NASA, the current rate of 0.13 inches per year is accelerating.

Scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) forecast a rise in temperatures of 2.5 to 10 degrees over the next 100 years.

Added water from melting land ice and the expansion of sea water could potentially result in high tides and flooding in regions already at risk.

The connotations of climate change are numerous. With limited natural resources, such as water, crops, livestock and even human lives are unlikely to survive. Scarcity can also lead to conflict between communities and trigger displacement patterns. Locally speaking, America saw more fires, more heat and more storms in 2020 than in any other year. As fires were ravaging the West Coast, Hurricane Laura destroyed the coast of Louisiana killing 25 people and becoming the 12th named storm to form by that point in the year.

Scientists estimate that by 2070 some 28 million people across the country could experience megafires the size of Manhattan. Eight of the nation’s 20 largest metropolitan areas, New York, Boston and Miami among them can be completely underwater by 2100 affecting around 50 million people.

Despite increasing awareness of climate change, our emission of greenhouse gases continues to increase. The two main approaches scientists prefer to adapt are:

• The reduction of emissions and stabilizing the levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere also known as mitigation.
• And adaptation to the climate change already in the pipeline.

Only 20 percent of cities around the globe have developed adaptation strategies according to a study conducted by the MIT including New York City and Chicago.

South Florida has always been vulnerable to hurricanes, storm surge and flooding, but how are we responding to climate change?