By Yanghe Liu. Featured Image adapted from NY Post.
On Thursday, June 24th, 2021, the Champlain Towers South, a 12-story beachfront condominium in Surfside, Florida, partially collapsed suddenly roughly an hour after midnight. This catastrophic falling of the 40-year-old residential building in the Miami suburb has destroyed at least half of the 136 units, causing 98 deaths and several other injuries. As the tragedy shocked the entire nation, investigators have identified that the contributing factor was the long-term degradation of the building structure. Due to severe seawater penetration, the reinforced concrete structural support rusted and cracked, especially the ground-level steel portions.
From a scientific perspective, Dr. Zhong-ren Peng delved deeper into exploring how climate change impacts coastal buildings and infrastructures. Interviewed by several mainstream presses, Dr. Peng insightfully indicated that the perpetual sea-level rise has led to potential corrosions, where saltwater and brine-soaked air intrusion made structures fragile and incapable of handling the weight of the buildings. Dr. Peng further suggested that this incident played the role of a wake-up call for future coastal developments, alarming the public to emphasize climate change vulnerability and corresponding mitigation and adaption.
Please check the links below for Dr. Peng’s interviews and reports.
Abbott, J. (2021, July 2). Code enforcement complaint filed over rusted rebar on Protogroup North Tower Site. Daytona Beach News-Journal Online. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/local/2021/07/01/code-complaint-filed-over-rusted-rebar-protogroup-construction-site/5373334001/
Greve, J. E., Milman, O., Pengelly, M., Elan, P., & Smith, D. (2021, June 30). Biden says failing infrastructure ‘a drain on our economy’ as he pushes bipartisan plan – as it happened. The Guardian. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2021/jun/29/joe-biden-infrastructure-plan-wisconsin-democrats-republicans-us-politics-latest-updates
Jarvie, J. (2021, June 29). After the fall of a Florida condo, some residents confront their future on the Coast. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-06-29/florida-condo-collapse-climate
Knowles, D. (2021, June 25). Sea level rise due to climate change eyed as contributing factor in Miami-area building collapse. Yahoo! News. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://news.yahoo.com/sea-level-rise-due-to-climate-change-eyed-as-contributing-factor-in-miami-building-collapse-172145539.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJzgam_vXazE0_6TtnOFBViLPKFOkuVErUPFUbjjqL8TEZ_cC9Iruoylwe5TZ522LfAZ4Vphq_ExjnobEiJ5rHEDOqufysD7eBYdk3MtZWcFIcvA5kAvf3y3HYCsfdcMm-7qhICr1cTjPxO672M8FcgYOxYdhyNDHrZ3Wy519o86
Lavietes, M. (2021, July 16). Analysis-Miami building collapse puts spotlight on climate change risks. Reuters. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-miami-building-climate-trfn-idUSKBN2EM2EP
Miller, K. (2021, June 26). Could the increasing assault of king tides and sea level rise have contributed to Miami condo collapse? The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/weather/2021/06/25/could-climate-change-have-contributed-surfside-condo-collapse/7779816002/
Peng, Z.-R. (2021, June 30). Tragic Florida condo collapse, whatever caused it, warns us we must adapt to Rising seas. USA Today. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/06/30/climate-challenges-rising-seas-florida-collapse/7796997002/?gnt-cfr=1
Pereira, C. (2021, July 28). UF’s media prominence rises to No.4 as faculty experts speak on international platforms. The Independent Florida Alligator. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.alligator.org/article/2021/07/uf-faculty-recognized-internationally
Robitzski, D. (2021, June 29). Deadly condo collapse linked to climate change. Futurism. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://futurism.com/the-byte/deadly-condo-collapse-linked-climate-change
Rosenberg, L. (2021, June 29). How climate change played a hand in the Miami condo collapse. Green Matters. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.greenmatters.com/p/miami-condo-collapse-climate-change
Squires, C. (n.d.). The surfside building collapse and what we know about the climate risks miami faces. Quartz. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://qz.com/2025427/champlain-tower-collapse-and-miamis-climate-change-risks/
Steinbuch, Y. (2021, June 30). Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm suggests climate change played role in Florida condo collapse. New York Post. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://nypost.com/2021/06/30/climate-change-could-have-played-role-in-florida-collapse-jennifer-granholm/
Weise, E. (2021, September 29). Climate change is ‘a freight train’ making some places too dangerous to live in, experts say. USA Today. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/09/29/housing-future-climate-change-disasters-united-states/5381111001/?gnt-cfr=1
Weise, E., & Ruiz-Goiriena, R. (2021, July 12). As rising seas erode buildings, it’s getting riskier to live on the Coast. USA Today. Retrieved March 1, 2022, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/07/09/surfside-condo-collapse-climate-change-coastal-living/7876434002/?gnt-cfr=1