Publication Date November 8, 2015 | New Republic

Miami Is Sinking Into the Sea—But Not Without a Fight

United States
Miami shoreline. Photo: Kadir Van Lohuizen
Miami shoreline. Photo: Kadir Van Lohuizen

Miami Beach consists of a long, low barrier island accompanied by a scattering of manmade islets. It’s one of the lowest-lying municipalities in the country, and its residents are leading the way into the world’s wetter future. Along the island’s low western side bordering Biscayne Bay, people have come to dread full-moon high tides, when salt water seeps into storm-drain outlets and the porous limestone that provides the island’s foundation, forcing water up and out into the streets and sidewalks and threatening buildings and infrastructure