PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sea levels are rising at a faster rate than once thought.
"The oceans are running hot and they're running high," NOAA Oceanographer Dr. William Sweet said. "We're melting more land-based ice out of Antarctica and Greenland and mountain glaciers, and the ocean is heating, especially in the Gulf of Mexico and the Southern Atlantic."
Sweet said that water is taking up more room, because of the melt putting us on the high side of the models than where we should be.
"We're on track for a rise of upwards to a foot or so in the next 30 years in areas of South Florida," he said.
Urban planner John Renne said sea levels rising on our coastline will directly impact our ground water inland.
"And so, as salt water intrudes on the underground aquafers it in essence pushes the line," he said, "the barrier between fresh water and salt water further and further back."
Renne said the encroaching salt water will eventually impact agriculture, our daily water consumption and underground utilities.
"You might live pretty far west thinking that you're very far from the coast," he said, "but you actually might be more susceptible to the impacts of sea level rise, because you're still at sea level."
Sweet said this is a global problem. Locally, he thinks we need to prepare or quicker and more intense flooding.
