Climate Change in South Florida (Essay Sample)

Climate Change in South Florida
Quality drinking water's accessibility is essential to sustaining life quality and people's health. Most of Florida's freshwater is sourced from underground aquifers consisting of multiple porous rock layers, which hold water. However, various events associated with climate change threaten its existence. The paper highlights the effect of sea-level rise on Florida's freshwater source, the strategies employed to mitigate this effect, and the advice to states and federal officials.
Drinking Water Source and Sea-Level Rise
Aquifers supply around ninety percent of Florida's drinking water, an equivalence of over eight billion water gallons daily. Florida's main aquifer systems include the Floridan, Intermediate, and Surficial systems ("South Florida Water District," 2015). Scenarios related to climate change, such as the changing patterns of weather, increasing temperatures, and sea-level rise, threaten the state's drinking water sources' availability and quality. Rising sea levels typically trigger the intrusion of saltwater to freshwater aquifers, soil saturation, and septic tank leakages.
Mitigation Efforts
The state is addressing the aforementioned issue by building sea walls, protecting sewage systems, and improving stormwater system storage. For example, Miami Beach County has allocated over $400 million for building seawalls in low-lying areas in the region (“Florida’s Sea Level Is Rising,” 2017). Seawalls protect beaches and shorelines from erosion, reduces water waves’ energy, and prevents soil from sliding through its structure. Other mitigation measures include building a large freshwater containment unit and utilizing gravel and sand to protect threatened coastal areas.
Personal Recommendation
A counsel to the state and federal officials is to adopt the use municipal wastes to raise low lying areas. The utilization of municipal wastes to elevate low-lying regions is a cost-effective and an innovative way to minimize carbon emission produced by waste incinerators (Wong, 2015). The state can use a combination of rocks, gravel, sand, and municipal wastes to raise the level of low-lying areas. Protective plastic liners may be utilized as sanitary landfills to prevent municipal waste and seawater interaction. Raising low lying areas will prevent saltwater from reaching the surface.
In summation, underground aquifers are the primary drinking water source in South Florida. These systems are highly reactive to droughts and excessive water withdrawals. Rising sea-levels typically increase surface and groundwater’s salinity. Mitigation effects to counter sea-level rise include building sea walls, protecting sewage systems, and improving stormwater system storage. State and federal officials can adopt the use of municipal wastes to raise low lying areas.