Climate Change Creates South Florida 51st State?
Southern Florida politicians say that the state government located in the Capital, which is in the Northern part of the state (Tallahassee) “isn’t doing enough to deal with global warming” and “”We have to be able to deal directly with this environmental concern and we can’t really get it done in Tallahassee,” “I don’t care what people think — it’s not a matter of electing the right people”, says Vice Mayor Walter Harris of south Miami in the Sun Sentinel.
The resolution at the moment would include the most Southern 24 counties with the Northern border being the counties of: Pinellas, Hillsborough, Polk, Semimole Orange and Brevard.
The main reason why North and South Florida don’t see eye to eye is one of elevation–the northern part of Florida has several times the elevation of many parts of South Florida. That simple fact makes the citizens of South Florida probably at least twice as eager or concerned to take greater action to mitigate damage caused by rising sea levels, than those feeling far less threatened. Parts of Key West for instance historically start to flood at 3 feet of storm surge and the Miami International Airport is only at 8’ elevation above current sea levels.
South Florida state 51st State
The Resolution also makes some additional serious points of concern:
The TurkeyPoint nuclear plant has reactors that are over 40 years old and also has over 2 million pounds (not a typo) of nuclear waste buried at that facility, which is located less than 5 feet above sea level. That sets up a situation where Florida may not need a tsunami (like in Fukushima) to have radiation leaking into the ocean after prolonged flooding.
Many sections of South Florida are 5 feet or less above sea level, including Monroe County and the Gold Coast, consisting of Palm Beach County, Broward County and Miami-Dade County.
Lake Okeechobee, located in South Florida, is the second largest freshwater lake in the United States and the source of much of the fresh water supplied to South Florida and could be severely compromised by rising sea levels.
Climate change is a scientific reality resulting in global warming and rising sea level.
It is estimated that there will be a 3 to 6 foot sea level rise by the end of this century.
In addition, South Florida has very porous rock and, as the level of the sea rises, the pressure will cause water to rise up through the ground and flood the inland areas.
Key West offers view of Climate Change concern for South Florida
The Country of South Florida passed a resolution to secede from the rest of Florida and is currently in the process of getting other Southern Florida counties to join. Then for secession to be enacted, the measure would need electorate approval from the entire state and then finally Congressional approval.
I was born just outside of Pensacola on the gulf coast of the Northern part of Florida where the elevation is about 100-120 feet, so at least I’ll be able to visit my birthplace in the future without wearing scuba gear, for quite awhile longer than those in southern Florida and quite a few coastal towns in the USA.
Download and read the City of South Miami Resolution (RESOLUTION NO. 203-14-14297) to create the USA’s 51st State of South Florida.
Green-Eco-EV News Reporting by Ken Green Burridge
Kenneth Burridge test-drives electric Nissan LEAF in Melbourne Australia
EV of the Year Judge, independent green journalist, photographer, author and sustainability activist that has published over 1000 articles. Mr Burridge’s travels have taken him to over 30 countries and 300+ major cities. He is originally from the USA, but has been residing in Australia for the last seven years. Connect to Ken Burridge on: Twitter, facebook, Google+, Linked in or website
