Sea Level Rise Due to Climate Change Is Being Linked to Florida Condo Collapse

By Jess Smith First Posted: Jun 26, 2021 12:59 AM EDT

The Florida condo collapse left at least four individuals dead and 159 others missing. But as the search for survivors on the 12-story beachfront condominium continues in Surfside, Florida, building experts started to look at the possibility of sea-level rise due to climate change had contributed to the disastrous incident.

Contributing Factor in Florida Condo Collapse

According to Yahoo News, Zhong-Ren Peng, professor and director of the International Center for Adaptation Planning and Design of the University of Florida, noted that the rise in the sea level rise can cause potential corrosion.

And if that was happening, Peng told the Palm Beach Post that it's possible it could not handle the weight of the building. He added that this should be a wake-up call for coastal developments.

Based on a geological standpoint, the base of the barrier islands of South Florida is made up of porous limestone. As the ocean encroaches on land because of the rise in the sea level and worsening of so-called king tides, groundwater is pushed up through the limestone which causes flooding in the area.

That salted water that regularly swamps South Florida's underground parking garages can potentially lead to the deterioration of building foundations over time.

Despite being too early to say whether climate change is to blame for the collapse of the 40-year-old Champlain Towers South, it could possibly threaten thousands of similar structures along the coastline of Florida.

Based on a 2019 report by the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact, sea levels rose by 3.9 inches between 2000 and 2017 in nearby Key West.

Future Projections

The director of the University of Miami's geological sciences department and a leading expert on sea-level rise, Harold Wanless, shared to Yahoo News that based on the U.S. government projections, the area would be 11 to 13 feet of sea level by the end of the century.

Wanless further noted that the Miami-Dade County has only 3 percent area that's 12 feet above sea level. He also sent a warning that people have to understand how serious this is going to be quick in the next two or three decades. Wanless added that people were seeing the beginning of this accelerated ice melt.

The Champlain Towers South, which had been built on reclaimed wetlands, was discovered sinking by roughly 2 millimeters per year between 1993 and 1999, the Washington Post reported.

Shimon Wdowinski, a professor at Florida International University's department of earth and environment, also told the Post that it appears to be something very localized to one building, so he thinks that the problem would be more likely related to the building itself.

Federal and state investigators will attempt to pinpoint the cause of the Florida condo collapse. The rising seas and the flooding from king tides which were exceptionally high tides that occur during a full or new moon will certainly be examined as a possible contributing factor.

Even if climate change would be ruled out as a significant contributor to this particular instance of structural failure, experts noted that there is no avoiding the fact that if seas continue to rise, the habitability of most areas in South Florida will be put into question.

WATCH: Investigators Race to Determine Cause of Florida Condo Collapse - From CBS Evening News