Pity the Poor People that will Inhabit Such a World

I just read an article entitled  ‘Miami, As We Know It Today, Is Doomed. It’s Not A Question Of If,  It’s A Question Of When.’.  Jeff Goodell created a not so fanciful scenario of Miami in 2030 after the  also not so fanciful  "Hurricane Milo". The 24 foot storm surges which were created by the 175 mph hurricane winds combined with rising ocean levels took out all electricity, destroyed the sewage treatment plant and contaminated sources of drinking water. Biscayne Bay was polluted with sewage and there was fear that the old nuclear power plant 24 miles south of Miami would be destroyed and liberate a dirty bomb of radioactivity. Roads of course were underwater and bridges destroyed. Miami's fate was determined by its flat topography situated on top of a vast porous limestone plateau. Many of the last remaining people were killed in the hurricane but most had escaped years before when the beaches disappeared,  the drinking water was contaminated with salt water, and, the last straw, the Insurance companies stopped insuring property! Finally, Miami became a snorkling spot where tourists could "explore the wreckage of a great American city." And as went Miami went Florida. 

What can be done to prevent this scenario? The short answer is "nothing".  The international consortium of climatologists actually has the actually unrealistic goal of a maximum 2 degree C rise in temperature, but even if we stop all carbon emissions instantly, this temperature rise is "baked in". Florida in particular has a climate change denier Tea Party governor, Rick Scott, a president want-a-be, Marco Rubio, who said that "...government can't control the weather" and a State government that has no plans for dealing with the effects of climate change other than to say that "..the Federal Government will take care of us". This is the same Federal Government that has a House of Representatives run by the Tea Party which has a major platform promise to ignore the reality of climate change, whether for religious reasons or for short term political gain.

And as as goes Florida goes the world. In fact, if all the 2,795 gigatons of carbon emissions presently still underground and owned by the oil companies is eventually recovered by pumping, fracking or extraction of tar sands, and burned, modern civilization and possibly the entire human race is doomed. 

Pity the poor people that inhabit such a world. It is not that they "know  not what they do", but that they continue doing what they know not to do.