Instructions

To begin, launch the NOAA SLR Viewer. After clicking "Close" to dismiss the disclaimer, your window should look like this:

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Figure 12.16: Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts (1).
Credit: NOAA

Next, zoom the map to the state of Florida. To do this, click on the "Zoom to: State or Territory" drop-down menu in the upper-right corner, and select "Florida," as shown below.

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Figure 12.17: Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts (2).
Credit: NOAA

After the map zooms to the state of Florida, double click repeatedly in the area indicated by the red arrow in the screenshot shown below to zoom in on the Miami metro area.

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Figure 12.18: Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts (3).
Credit: NOAA

Stop zooming in on Miami when your screen looks like the screenshot below. The four boxes shown in the screenshot (labeled A-D) will not appear on your map. The boxes indicate the four areas where we will be comparing vulnerability in this activity: A) Coral Gables; B) Downtown Miami; C) Miami Shores; and D) Miami Beach. The boxes are named based on the city/neighborhood labels that appear on the map in black-edged, yellow lettering.

On this map, areas below present-day high tide are shown in dark blue. Areas that are usually dry today are shown using a satellite image (vegetation, buildings, roads, and sand appear in green, gray, and tan colors).

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Figure 12.19: Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts (4).
Credit: NOAA

Now we will use the map to compare the physical vulnerability to sea level rise in the four boxed areas. Using the sea level rise slider in the upper-left (see the red box in the screenshot below), set the amount of sea level rise to 4 ft. The Figure Miami area may experience 4 ft of sea level rise by the end of this century.

Notice that as you move the sea level rise slider to the right, patches of light blue expand inland from the shoreline. These light blue areas are above the present-day high tide, but would be flooded by the selected amount of sea level rise.