Sen. Calls Miami Beach Ground Zero For Sea Level Rise
By Jenny Staletovich, The Miami Herald | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"For those who deny sea level rise and climate change, here is the proof," Nelson said halfway through the two-hour hearing at
A half-dozen witnesses, including a
"It's a slow, steady, persistent creep. But the fact that it's slow means there's time," said
Nelson, the state's former insurance commissioner, said he held the hearing to make "part of the official record of the
Over the last 150 years, the earth's temperature has risen, said
Using 17 satellites positioned around the earth,
What's worse, he said, is
In
"Sea-level rise is our reality in
In
"At one foot [of] sea level rise,
The insurance industry has not accepted that climate change has caused changing weather patterns, and no companies include the risk of climate change in determining insurance rates, said
And rising sea levels will likely make some properties so vulnerable, she said, that they could not be insured at a reasonable rate.
"People won't want to pay," she said.
Nelson welcomed the industry's recognition of increased hurricanes, but he complained that "myopic vision" had kept the industry from addressing the climate matters he started asking about 20 years ago when he was the state's insurance commissioner.
"The fact is there's been five to eight inches [of sea rise] in the last century and they're going to have to build it in" to models that calculate insurance rates, he said.
Most of those who testified Tuesday said steps can be taken to protect
And outfitting canals with pumps farther east can direct water and keep saltwater from rushing in, FAU's Bloetscher said. FAU is also in the process of improving flood maps. Old maps, he said, miscalculated the amount of land that would be inundated by as much as 50 percent. Once better maps are created, better solutions can be tailored for specific areas.
The biggest challenge will be what to do with all the water once it is collected, he explained. Dirty urban water can't be dumped in the ocean or
"Quantity is easy," he said. "Quality is the problem."
Nationally, the matter is drawing increasing attention, particularly with the IPCC's report last month warning that countries are not doing enough to prepare. Even so, on Tuesday, between 20 and 30 demonstrators with the
"We were happy that
Inside the hearing, Nelson, who was born in
"I hope we can continue to keep these discussions going," he said, "so we can come to a reasonable conclusion as to what we need to do before it is too late."
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