{"query_echo":{"q":"","filters":{"geography":["Key West"]},"warnings":[{"code":"facet_value_not_in_vocabulary","message":"Value 'Key West' for facet 'geography' is not in the controlled vocabulary."}]},"total":{"value":2,"relation":"eq"},"page":1,"page_size":20,"self":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/api/v1/search?geography=Key+West","stability":"beta","ai_marking":{"digital_source_type":{"uri":"http://cv.iptc.org/newscodes/digitalsourcetype/trainedAlgorithmicMedia","name":"Created using Generative AI"},"notice":"Summary and key insights are generated using artificial intelligence."},"results":[{"id":"ucs-000598","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/ucs-000598","title":"Investing in Preparedness to Save Money and Manage the Impacts of Rising Seas","publisher":{"name":"Union of Concerned Scientists","organization":"union-of-concerned-scientists"},"document_type":"fact sheet","language":"en","date_published":"2015-11","source_url":"https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/10/encroaching-tides-florida-keys.pdf","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","geography_discussed","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"The Florida Keys face escalating tidal flooding due to rising sea levels, with projections suggesting Key West could experience 375 tidal flooding events annually by 2045. This threat endangers a $2.2 billion tourism industry, critical transport links like Key West International Airport and U.S. Route 1, and the region's freshwater supply. While Monroe County has implemented resilience measures, the document argues that federal funding for hazard mitigation and emissions reductions is essential to avoid long-term economic damage and habitat loss in the Everglades.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000598#summary","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},"key_insights":[{"text":"Projections from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicate that sea levels in the Florida Keys will rise by 15 inches by 2045, leading to a significant increase in the frequency and duration of tidal flooding.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000598#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Tidal flooding is projected to increase drastically by 2045: Key West could see 375 events per year, while Big Pine Key and Marathon (Vaca Key) could experience approximately 180 events per year.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000598#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Rising seas threaten the primary economic driver of Monroe County, a tourism industry valued at $2.2 billion that supports over 32,000 jobs.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000598#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Critical infrastructure is highly vulnerable; a one-foot sea-level rise could inundate 75% of hospitals, 71% of emergency shelters, and 65% of schools, while putting $2.76 billion of taxable property and 3,000 homes at risk.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000598#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The region's primary freshwater supply and the ecology of the Everglades are at risk due to saltwater intrusion; every two-inch increase in sea level is expected to expose a one-mile-wide strip of freshwater Everglades wetland to saltwater.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000598#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Essential transport access is precarious, as Key West International Airport and U.S. Route 1 are less than one foot above sea level in certain locations.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000598#insight-6","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Investing in pre-disaster preparedness is presented as a fiscally responsible strategy that saves money on recovery and creates jobs, noting that hazard-mitigation activities in Florida created 12,206 full-time-equivalent jobs between 2004 and 2011.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000598#insight-7","date_modified":"2026-10-23"}],"climate_tags":["sea level rise","coastal management","climate change adaptation","climate finance","greenhouse gas emissions"],"geography_discussed":["Everglades","Miami-Dade County","Broward County","Palm Beach County","Florida"],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["vulnerability assessment","economic impact analysis","policy recommendation"]},{"id":"ucs-000599","url":"https://climateinsightsdirectory.org/document/ucs-000599","title":"Encroaching Tides","publisher":{"name":"Union of Concerned Scientists","organization":"union-of-concerned-scientists"},"document_type":"report","language":"en","date_published":"2014-10","source_url":"https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2014/10/encroaching-tides-full-report.pdf#page=37","generator":"Climate Insights Directory","generated_fields":["summary","key_insights","climate_tags","geography_discussed","analysis_type"],"summary":{"text":"The report analyzes 52 tide gauges from Maine to Texas, projecting that by 2045, many U.S. East and Gulf Coast communities will face a ten-fold increase in tidal flooding. It argues that such flooding will disrupt daily life, damage infrastructure, and necessitate a coordinated national response combining local adaptation—such as elevating roads and restoring wetlands—with global carbon emission reductions.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#summary","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},"key_insights":[{"text":"Tidal flooding is increasing in frequency along the U.S. East Coast, with some communities experiencing a fourfold increase in annual flooding days since 1970.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#insight-1","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"By 2030, more than half of the 52 analyzed communities on the East and Gulf Coasts are expected to average more than 24 tidal floods per year, with two-thirds of those communities potentially seeing a tripling or more in annual flood frequency.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#insight-2","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"By 2045, one-third of the analyzed locations are projected to average more than 180 tidal floods per year, and nine locations—including Atlantic City and Cape May, NJ—could average 240 or more.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#insight-3","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Sea level rise is transforming 'nuisance' flooding into 'extensive' flooding; by 2030, tides alone are expected to cause extensive flooding in locations such as Lewisetta, VA, Cambridge, MD, Charleston, SC, Duck, NC, Kiptopeke, VA, Savannah, GA, and Vaca Key, FL.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#insight-4","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The Gulf Coast faces particularly high rates of sea level rise, sometimes more than three times the global average, driven partly by land subsidence in regions from Mississippi to Texas.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#insight-5","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Tidal flooding causes significant socio-economic disruption, including the closure of primary access routes, damage to homes and businesses, and the potential for declining property values and shrinking local tax bases.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#insight-6","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"Adaptation strategies are categorized into three main approaches: defending against the sea (e.g., seawalls, tide gates), accommodating rising water (e.g., elevating infrastructure), and retreating from the shoreline.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#insight-7","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"The report argues that local adaptation has fundamental limits; in some areas, physical, economic, or social thresholds will make structural defenses impossible or unaffordable, necessitating a planned retreat from the shore.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#insight-8","date_modified":"2026-10-23"},{"text":"To slow the rate of sea level rise and make adaptation manageable, global carbon emissions must peak and begin to decline by the end of the decade to keep warming below 2°C.","ai_generated":true,"unit":"ucs-000599#insight-9","date_modified":"2026-10-23"}],"climate_tags":["sea level rise","coastal management","carbon dioxide emissions","climate change","green infrastructure","coastal erosion"],"geography_discussed":["Washington, D.C.","Miami","Q49231","Charleston","Atlantic City","Annapolis","Portland","Savannah","Baltimore","Boston","Philadelphia","Key West","Outer Banks","Tybee Island","Jamaica Bay","Lewes","Ocean City","Portsmouth","Bridgeport"],"frame_perspective":[],"analysis_type":["projection","impact assessment","policy recommendation"]}]}