Any time someone mentions global warming, climate change, sea levels rising... or whatever the current catch phrase is.. I tend to get a bit cranky... Nothing in the above mentions what they'd just as soon no one considers... Climate has never been stable at all - the changes, though, come so slowly that most will be willing to believe - this new religion.... In fact the old saw... "Everyone complains about the weather... but no one ever does anything about it..." is no longer true. In fact there's a whole industry backed by research (the research that was paid for - and as a result might not exactly be particularly reliable... ) that's finally doing something about the weather - and will be getting all of us to pay for it... While places like China (and others) must be laughing at us... and doing their best to surpass us as we wallow in these new policies... Note that none of the current "science" about climate change even mentions the sun, our very own star that this planet orbits around - and the actual candle that warms or cools this planet - and the sun itself fluctuates in the amount of radiation it sends our way. Like planets everywhere in this or any other solar system (or galaxy if you prefer a broader view...) we're completely at the mercy of our very own star...
In fact, the climate is always warming or cooling over time and water levels will rise or fall over time. Down here in paradise, south Florida, it's helpful to remember that 10,000 years ago - where Orlando is today... was in fact oceanfront property - and our Everglades only assumed its current form about 5,000 years ago. Before that south Florida was completely under water... The best primer on the Everglades itself and man's attempts to change, curtail, drain, the 'glades.. is the book, THE SWAMP by Michael Grunwald... I highly recommend it since it goes into detail about all of the attempts to "tame nature" and turn the Everglades into "productive land"... Thank heavens most of those attempts failed completely -but they left behind a bunch of problems that we're still dealing with today....
In the area of Cape Sable all of the canals into the interior (House, Slagle ditches, and others...) were cut into the 'glades in an attempt to permit drainage with the hope that eventually they could actually drain the swamp... In the fifty years I've been involved with the 'glades most of the action by Everglades National Park have been efforts to reverse the process started before World War Two when it was still our state's policy - to "DRAIN THE EVERGLADES.. Thank heavens the 'glades defeated most of their efforts..Since then most of Everglades National Park's efforts have been to mitigate those destructive policies and prevent saltwater intrusion up into areas that should be nurseries with a mix of fresh and saltwaters needed to nourish all the plants, fish, and animals in the interior. In some places they've succeeded in others they failed but not for lack of trying ... The plug in Buttonwood canal was a great success (most call it the dam...) and was installed in the early part of the eighties after many complained that too much saltwater was getting up into the interior when the canal was open and free flowing. I'm proud to say that the fishing club I belonged to (the Tropical Anglers Club) at the time, was part of that effort - along with many other clubs and conservation groups... After the plug was installed a second boat ramp was needed at Flamingo to allow access down into Florida Bay. That's why Flamingo has had two ramps since the early eighties...
Back to Lake Ingram which sparked this current discussion... In fact "rising sea levels" have nothing to do with the inevitable result of our cutting into what was a freshwater lake (Ingram) - all those years ago with the creation of East Cape canal and the opening at Middle Cape to allow access into Ingram and along the way turn it into a tidal area... The normal tidal flow alone has greatly changed that area - long before I was ever there - fifty years ago now... Hurricane Wilma back in 2005 greatly accelerated that process. That's why I pointed out that unless we intervene Ingram will continue to change and as Middle Cape opens up, that process will accelerate.... Wish it weren't so - and I haven't heard of any plans to do anything about it at all... Just one more legacy of the mistakes made long, long ago...