The Siege of Miami

As temperatures climb, so, too, will sea levels

The water on the street was so deep that it was, indeed, hard to tell where it was coming from. Hammer explained that it was emerging from the storm drains. Instead of funnelling rainwater into the bay, as they were designed to do, the drains were directing water from the bay onto the streets.

Many traits of South Florida make the low lying land particularly susceptible to rising sea levels. Despite what have already become regular and predictable floods in some neighborhoods, people continue to flock to the southern shores and Florida’s politicians continue to fight policies aiming to mitigate climate change –which some geologists predict will cause 10 to 30 feet of sea level rise by the end of the century.