Sea level rise a FL hazard + Indonesia still clings to coal despite phaseout pledge

[C C]

Indonesia still clinging to coal despite phaseout pledge, new plan shows
https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/indone...lan-shows/

KEYPOINTS: The Indonesian government has walked back an earlier pledge to phase out all coal-fired power plants, saying now that it will keep them running but fit them with carbon capture technology.

Experts have questioned the technical and financial feasibility of the plan, and called for a swift transition away from the fossil fuel and toward renewable energy.

Even so, senior officials and lawmakers have criticized any attempt to give up coal, saying Indonesia shouldn’t blindly follow the growing global trend toward renewables.

As part of its plan for “cleaner” coal plants, the government wants to burn more biomass — wood chips — alongside coal, which raises a host of new questions about economic and environmental costs. (MORE - details)

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Sea-level rise becoming a hazard for South Florida neighborhoods miles from ocean
https://phys.org/news/2021-09-sea-level-...hoods.html

INTRO: Sea-level rise may appear to be a problem only for coastal residents, a hazard that comes with the awesome views and easy access to the beach.

But neighborhoods 20 miles inland are starting to feel the impact, as the Atlantic Ocean's higher elevation makes it harder for drainage canals to keep them dry. The problem showed up last year in Tropical Storm Eta, when floodwater remained in southwest Broward neighborhoods for days, partly because the elevated ocean blocked canals from draining the region.

"It was pretty scary," said Barb Besteni, who lives in far west Miramar. "I stepped out of house into ankle-deep water. It came three-fourths up the driveway. I'd never seen the water that high. It was scary because I didn't know if it was going to continue to rise."

Although her house in the Sunset Lakes community stands at the edge of the Everglades, the Atlantic's higher elevation prevented it from draining as efficiently as in the past. "It took a very, very long time to recede," she said. "Two or three weeks to recede to normal levels."

[...] Sea levels have been rising at an accelerating rate ... A NOAA study says global sea levels have gone up 3.4 inches from 1993 to 2019. In South Florida, estimates from the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, which represents local governments, call for sea levels to rise another 10-17 inches by 2040.

Hoping to revamp the system for an age of rising sea levels, the water management district has proposed improvements at 23 drainage structures in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. They range from southern Miami-Dade County to the Hillsboro Canal, which separates Broward and Palm Beach counties... (MORE - missing details)

[Leigha]

With the recent condo building collapse in Miami, investigators are not ruling out rising sea levels as a possible contributing factor. Most likely however, the main reasons that the building collapsed were lack of maintenance over the years, to repair corrosion of reinforced steel/structural support, and cheap materials/code violations when the building was originally constructed forty years ago.

There are common misconceptions about rising sea levels, though - many people believe that Florida will be permanently underwater someday (a bit hyperbolic), but it's more likely that as hurricanes continue to impact the state, the beaches and other areas will be at higher risk of flooding and storm surges. I've read that NYC is considering constructing a wall to prevent storm surges in the future, but I don't think such a wall would help the Florida coastline.