NPR

Building For An Uncertain Future: Miami Residents Adapt To The Changing Climate

In Miami, the effects of global warming are not hypothetical predictions but realities of everyday life, prompting change by government, businesses and individuals alike.
Diane Walder says she's not a "global warming scaredy-cat." But she says she has noticed sea levels rise around her waterfront home in Miami Beach.

Over the past few years, Miami native Trenise Bryant has seen her neighborhood, the African-American enclave of Liberty City, start to change. Bryant grew up in one of the area's oldest public housing projects, Liberty Square. Lately, rents have gone up, and Bryant has seen people priced out and forced to move away.

One factor driving this, Bryant says, is climate change.

Miami is projected to face anywhere from 1 to 3 feet of sea level rise by 2060, and as sea levels rise, higher ground inland has started to look more and more desirable. Much of that higher ground is in the city's poorest neighborhoods, like Liberty City and Little Haiti. As Bryant puts it, it has turned land in these communities into "caviar."

The shifting real estate landscape

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