Disposable City: Miami's Future on the Shores of Climate Catastrophe

A deeply reported personal investigation by a Miami journalist examines the present and future effects of climate change in the Magic City -- a watery harbinger for coastal cities worldwide.
Miami, Florida, is likely to be entirely underwater by the end of this century. Residents are already starting to see the effects of sea level rise today. From sunny day flooding caused by higher tides to a sewer system on the brink of total collapse, the city undeniably lives in a climate changed world.

In Disposable City, Miami resident Mario Alejandro Ariza shows us not only what climate change looks like on the ground today, but also what Miami will look like 100 years from now, and how that future has been shaped by the city's racist past and present. As politicians continue to kick the can down the road and Miami becomes increasingly unlivable, real estate vultures and wealthy residents will be able to get out or move to higher ground, but the most vulnerable communities, disproportionately composed of people of color, will face flood damage, rising housing costs, dangerously higher temperatures, and stronger hurricanes that they can't afford to escape.

Miami may be on the front lines of climate change, but the battle it's fighting today is coming for the rest of the U.S. -- and the rest of the world -- far sooner than we could have imagined even a decade ago. Disposable City is a thoughtful portrait of both a vibrant city with a unique culture and the social, economic, and psychic costs of climate change that call us to act before it's too late.

Author: Mario Alejandro Ariza
Publisher: Bold Type Books
Published: 07/14/2020
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781541788466


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2020

About the Author
Mario Alejandro Ariza grew up in Santo Domingo and Miami, where he lives currently. His work has appeared in outlets such as the Atlantic, the Believer, the Miami New Times, and the New Tropic. He is featured in Sinking Cities, a PBS documentary series on the threat of climate change.