Introduction

In the interdisciplinary Environmental Studies program, students identify and address the critical environmental issues facing the world’s cities in the 21st century. The curriculum brings together the natural sciences, the social sciences, and design. It prepares graduates for policy planning and service careers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Seniors in the Environmental Studies program are led by part-time faculty Alan McGowan in their senior capstone projects. In Spring 2020, four students - Samira Alfarius, Devin Borg, Julia St.Clair-Voiers, and Isabella Klemprer Melo - completed their capstone projects and presented their work in the program's recognition ceremony held in May.

South Florida and its residents are up against a warming ocean, rising sea levels, increased high tide events and hurricanes, a rising water table underneath much of its porous limestone geology, and state leadership that is playing catch up with climate change. Coastal cities across the globe are extending themselves in every direction in efforts to keep their residents safe and allow for economic growth to continue. Just in the United States, New Orleans, Miami Beach, and Staten Island, all exemplify the fight against water in the wake of climate change. City governments have already, or are planning to invest millions to billions of dollars on infrastructure and anti-flood measures.

This thesis focuses on the coastal community of Delray Beach, Florida which also happens to be my family’s current hometown. Delray’s residents become the sample study for this project in order to assess their levels of risk perception while living in such a vulnerable coastal city. Delray is located in the southeast region of the state, approximately fifty-two miles north of Miami on the Atlantic coast. The city’s furthest inland boundary is only about five miles from the coast. Union of Concerned Scientists project by the year 2045, Delray will see 325 homes at risk of flooding and this number is projected to rise to 5,121 homes by 2100 – a combined worth of $3.74 billion. Recent residential growth is happening five times faster in areas at high risk for flooding by 2050, then in safer areas for the city of Delray Beach, according to Surging Seas: risk finder tool by Climate Central.

Each holiday break or visit back home, it seems there is one more old Florida home being knocked down to be replaced by a new, modern home, or yet another national hotel chain. The landscape of this once sleepy beach town – or the “Village By The Sea” as the city has branded it – has gained a popular following of ex-suburbanites from surrounding South Florida towns, seasonal & part-time homeowners (known as ‘Snowbirds’), and former Northerners. I wondered, are these residents considering the risks and hazards related to climate change while living not only in a coastal community, but one located in the vulnerable region of Southeast Florida?

This thesis asks, how do residents perceive climate change while living in a vulnerable coastal community? Further, I consider: what are their motivations to continue living there, and how are they dealing with the proven risks? An online survey questionnaire, as well as follow up interviews with residents allows this study to explore residents’ reasoning, justification, perspective, and knowledge related to climate change, and level of risk perception when choosing to live with risks on the coast.

The role of large institutions was taken into account such as the National Flood Insurance Program and specific city ordinances which can often signal to residents that it is safe to live in high risk areas. It is important to recognize that these attempts at aiding in coastal adaptation or preservation, are unsustainable and lacking in foresight. Many of the current propositions act merely as temporary solutions, while the sea level and water tables rise, as hurricanes are predicted to strengthen and become more frequent, and as the coastline and ocean front homes slip further into the ocean. As this becomes increasingly evident and recognized by our governments, understanding why coastal living is so attractive, what makes it worth the risk, and the forms of place attachment coastal residents assign to their homes, must be explored more in detail.

Four hypotheses were established when creating the online survey questionnaire and interview script used to assess the residents of Delray. I assumed first, that the coast provides many more benefits that outweigh the risks related to climate change while living on the coast, second, that Delray residents believed climate change concerns were far away and not something to be concerned about now or in the near future, third, the neighborhood a resident lives in and their distance from the beach strengthens or weakens their concern for climate change, and fourth, residents who spend less time in Delray (moved there recently, or are part time residents) have less ‘stake’ in the community and might not be concerned about the risks on the coast.

I received 96 survey responses, however 61 were answered in full and the data from these 61 respondents are which the findings for this paper are based on, and I interviewed eight residents. Overall the sample is made up of an age group that is 85% 55 years and older, nearly 80% identify as white, 92% of the sample are full-time residents, 83% of the sample earned a bachelor’s or graduate degree, and in the last year 40% earned more than $200,000 or more.

From the survey analysis I found that 80% of the study sample had not considered climate change at all when deciding to move to Delray Beach, which may be associated with the many benefits that outweigh the risks that come with coastal living. Nearly half of the participants believe that coastal living will become an issue very soon, or in the next ten years, yet the majority of this same group does not feel protected against climate change. Lastly, the difference between part time and full-time coastal residents is examined and it is found that 60% of the part time residents sampled had not experienced a hurricane while living in the Delray Beach area, leading to 60% of part time residents stating that they would be willing to leave Delray if and when climate change impacts worsen for the area. Each interview was transcribed and provided supplemental data to the established quantitative data from the surveys.

Based on the results from these two methods it seems that this study sample of Delray residents are able to overlook or ignore the coastal hazards that come with residing there. This ability for many residents to not feel affected by climate change on the coast can be attributed to a few reasons discussed in previous literature and studies: distrust in scientific projections, relying on and using coping mechanisms to be able to overlook these risks and instead reap the benefits of living near the coast, and a federal and local government that works hard to keep people on the coast, signaling to residents that it must be safe to continue living in such areas like Delray Beach. Delray, along with many other coastal communities will eventually have to face making the challenging decision as to what to do with a growing population that only puts more pressure on existing infrastructure, land and resources. Adapting can be difficult but it might just require restructuring the way our cities and federal government work to deal with a changing coastline, and spur residents to reimagine a completely different way and lifestyle while living on the coast.