http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...hreatened-rising-sea-levels-article-1.3969502
Florida Everglades, neighborhoods threatened by rising sea levels ‘this century’
By Ariel Scotti
| NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
May 03, 2018 | 11:17 AM
The vanishing mangroves of the Florida Everglades makes the state more susceptible to the destructive powers of strong hurricanes. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The mangroves of southeast Florida are on what researchers are calling a "death march" as they move inward toward the shores to avoid drowning.
The rising seas of climate change that threaten these tree-like tropical shrubs have forced Florida officials to construct dams and levees that have reduced the Everglades wilderness by half. The mangroves' inland trajectory has them pushed up against these manmade structures, making it likely that they'll be fully submerged and effectively killed off within the next 30 years, according to researchers at Florida International University.
"There's nowhere left for them to go," coastal geologist at FIU, Dr. Randall Parkinson told The Guardian. "They are done. The sea will continue to rise and the question now is whether they will be replaced by open water. I think they will. The outlook is pretty grim. What's mind-boggling is that we are facing the inundation of south Florida this century."
The team at FIU saw that the mangroves south of Miami were moving at a rate of about 100 feet per year until they hit the levee using satellite and aerial images.
Similar phenomena are happening elsewhere in the southern portion of the state, making Florida more susceptible to the destructive powers of strong hurricanes, like 2017's Irma.
But people aren't the only ones at risk. The "river of grass" is home to countless living creatures, including four types of endangered turtles, the federally endangered Florida panther, the threatened American alligator and the endangered West Indian manatee.
"We are at a tipping point. Sea level rise could be more than 20mm (0.79in.) a year by the end of the century," Parkinson said. "And there's no way our coastal habitats will keep pace with anything more than 10mm a year."
Florida Everglades, neighborhoods threatened by rising sea levels ‘this century’
By Ariel Scotti
| NEW YORK DAILY NEWS |
May 03, 2018 | 11:17 AM
The vanishing mangroves of the Florida Everglades makes the state more susceptible to the destructive powers of strong hurricanes. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The mangroves of southeast Florida are on what researchers are calling a "death march" as they move inward toward the shores to avoid drowning.
The rising seas of climate change that threaten these tree-like tropical shrubs have forced Florida officials to construct dams and levees that have reduced the Everglades wilderness by half. The mangroves' inland trajectory has them pushed up against these manmade structures, making it likely that they'll be fully submerged and effectively killed off within the next 30 years, according to researchers at Florida International University.
"There's nowhere left for them to go," coastal geologist at FIU, Dr. Randall Parkinson told The Guardian. "They are done. The sea will continue to rise and the question now is whether they will be replaced by open water. I think they will. The outlook is pretty grim. What's mind-boggling is that we are facing the inundation of south Florida this century."
The team at FIU saw that the mangroves south of Miami were moving at a rate of about 100 feet per year until they hit the levee using satellite and aerial images.
Similar phenomena are happening elsewhere in the southern portion of the state, making Florida more susceptible to the destructive powers of strong hurricanes, like 2017's Irma.
But people aren't the only ones at risk. The "river of grass" is home to countless living creatures, including four types of endangered turtles, the federally endangered Florida panther, the threatened American alligator and the endangered West Indian manatee.
"We are at a tipping point. Sea level rise could be more than 20mm (0.79in.) a year by the end of the century," Parkinson said. "And there's no way our coastal habitats will keep pace with anything more than 10mm a year."
