Rolling Stone this month published a fascinating, if somewhat morbid piece about how the city of Miami is all but certain to be submerged underwater due to climate change. As Jeff Goodell reports, research shows that sea levels are due to rise by at least six feet by the end of the century, with some saying they could rise by as much as 16 feet. Even conservative projections would still pose a serious threat to Miami, most of which sits just five feet above sea level. The city also sits atop very porous limestone bedding, which makes it easy for water to seep in from the ocean and the Everglades, rendering sea walls virtually ineffective. The result is a disaster scenario that seems almost impossible to fathom.
A vision of Miami’s impending underwater apocalypse
“Miami, as we know it today, is doomed,” Harold Wanless, chairman of the department of geological sciences at the University of Miami, told Rolling Stone. “It’s not a question of if. It’s a question of when.”
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