Projected Sea-Level Rise
As mentioned previously, one of my best friends from college is the mayor of Broward County in Southern Florida. Below is part of a presentation he made recently on sea-level rise.
Obviously, there is plenty of time to adapt, e.g., build seawalls, but it’s still hard to imagine wanting to buy coastal real estate.
“Here is the new updated (and slightly higher) sea level projections presented at the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Summit in Key West.”
Craig,
Sea walls would only make the problem worse. Coastal erosion is almost impossible to prevent and has nothing to do with “sea level rise”.
The additional weight of sea walls only hastens the erosion.In many cases the problem is exacerbated by man made infrastructure, roads, heavy buildings, alterations in currents caused by dredging,sewerage outlets, even bridges anchoring islets together.
Unless a massive solution of Dykes and reclaimed land is proposed as in the Netherlands, needing constant maintenance, coastal erosion is just an ongoing natural occurrence.
However, coastal property is always valuable real estate. Just take a look at the difference in price between beach frontage and 3 blocks behind the Beach.
Sea level rise is something always predicted, but never seems to occur. The reason is simple, the earths oceans and underwater terrain is little known. The exact nature and effects are on a truly monumental scale and with so little reliable data available, any “projection” is just speculation based on assumptions and assertions, dressed up to look “scientific”.