Is Miami Sinking?

There has been a lot of talk in the press about Miami being threatened in the next few years by global warming and ocean rising, pro and con. Miami is like one of the many cities that is on the ocean and close to sea level, six feet above sea level. There is momentum behind the planet warming and the ocean rising. It is believed that with the warming that has already occurred the oceans will rise three feet. The timing of this is not clear but some time in the next 100 years. This will not happen dramatically like in the movies but slowly and you will be able to see it as it happens. South Florida has the lowest elevation of all the states except Louisiana. It is also sitting on porous limestone which means the oceans will come from beneath and dikes like they have in the Netherlands are not an option. So they will not disappear right away but they are jeopardy.

The lowest state is Louisiana. New Orleans. This area was created after the last ice age from sediment deposited from the Mississippi river run off. As such the land above sea level was just barely and the rest was swamp. The city was built on the tiny piece of land that was above sea level but as it expanded it needed to reclaim land from the surrounding swamps. to do this levies were built and the swamps drained. This draining of the swamp land caused it to dry out and compress down, so New Orleans is in fact sinking. It is now about 50% above sea level and 50% below.