Mar-a-Lago could be underwater by 2100, thanks to Trump pulling out of Paris accord

Mar-a-Lago is underwater if oceans rise 6 feet

(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/The Associated Press)

last updated 8 June 2017

President Trump and his aides won't really say if Trump believes in climate change, following his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord, but the melting polar ice caps probably don't care much what Trump thinks. "The president's Mar-a-Lago estate, the soaring apartment towers bearing his name on Miami-area beaches, and his Doral golf course are all threatened by rising seas, according to projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the South Florida Regional Climate Change Compact," The Associated Press reports.

If sea levels rise 2 to 3 feet by 2100, as scientists believe they might, Mar-a-Lago's western lawns will be underwater, as will roads and bridges connecting Trump's private club, built on a Florida barrier island, to the mainland. Using a worst-case rise of 6 feet, more likely without U.S. meeting or exceeding its now-abandoned Paris emissions targets, Mar-a-Lago will be below sea level, along with more than half of the other $11 million-plus homes in Palm Beach.

Trump's "properties live off of tourism — golfing communities, places where fat cats go and spend money and hobnob," Coral Gables Mayor Jim Cason, a Republican, tells AP. "If the beaches are gone or the streets are flooded, it's going to affect the value of his property," he adds. "So as a prudent businessman, he ought to conclude that the science is right and we need to prepare and plan." Trump's resorts and golf courses in Hawaii, Ireland, Canada, Panama, Uruguay, and Mumbai, India, are also vulnerable to rising sea levels. You can learn more about the threats to Trump's Florida properties in this report from AP's Alex Sanz. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.