South Florida officials are spending $100,000 [to start with] over the next year to study the threat of climate change… though they’re cutting back on nonessentials like police and park service.

The South Florida Water Management District’s long-term plans once anticipated the sea level rising about 1 foot by 2100, but more recent projections say the rise could be five times as much.

That could move the southern tip of Florida’s mainland to the Tamiami Trail and submerge swaths of some of the most populated areas along the southeast coast.

Governing board member Charles Dauray remains skeptical about global warming, but wonders about Everglades Restoration if the water rises. The restoration project would be moot at that point, the ‘river of grass’ largely reclaimed by the seas, awash with dead polar bears.

Another board member said “We don’t have the luxury of waiting,” and still another muttered “Those poor bastards in the red zone don’t have a chance in hell”.

Blogging the doom from South Florida, this is Pam. I’ll remain live until the water reaches the elec