A roundup of news items related to climate change and other environmental issues in Florida:
King tide floods offer glimpse of Miami’s soggy, salty future. Can anything be done? | Miami Herald
The roar of a generator overwhelmed the quiet burbling of water at the Little River Pocket Park on Monday.
It hadn’t rained in days, but the park — and several nearby streets — were under nearly two feet of water from this year’s king tides, the annual highest tides of the year.
The sound came from a temporary stormwater drainage pump, one of ten placed by the city of Miami to combat the tidal flooding that swamps roads, sidewalks, yards and parks across South Florida every fall.
Dramatic plan to expand flood areas could force millions to buy insurance | E&E News
It’s a glaring weak spot in climate protection: Millions of U.S. residents don’t have flood insurance and face financial ruin if their home is inundated.
But the nation’s insurance gap would shrink under a dramatic proposal that could require millions of property owners to buy flood coverage for the first time, potentially costing them thousands of dollars a year.
The proposal by a federal advisory panel urges the government to expand the areas considered by regulators to be at high risk of flooding, according to a report by the panel that was provided to E&E News.
Marine heat waves are becoming more severe, scientists said at a recent Gulf of Mexico meeting | WUSF
The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System hosted a discussion on marine heat waves during its recent annual fall meeting.
Zhankun Wang, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-National Centers for Environmental Information, was the first presenter.
He said marine heat waves have been getting more severe over the past 50 years, and that the Gulf’s surface is warming twice as much as the global ocean, but its deep-water temperature is comparable.
If you have any news items of note that you think we should include in our next roundup, please email The Invading Sea Editor Nathan Crabbe at ncrabbe@fau.edu. Sign up for The Invading Sea newsletter by visiting here. To learn more about king tides, watch the video below.
