Unlike in past primaries, many Democratic contenders are treating the climate crisis as a major campaign issue.
Many leading Democrats have said they support the Green New Deal, an ambitious and sweeping set of policy proposals to address climate change, or have proposed similar plans.
But for Floridians who will be tuned into the debates, the effects of this climate emergency aren't confined to scientists' end-of-the-century projections.
They are being felt across the state right now.
Sea levels are rising -- and so are the costs
Just across the intracoastal waterway from the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, where the debates will be held, are the lively beaches and iconic Art Deco buildings of Miami Beach.
But these days, the city is just as well-known as ground zero for the impacts of sea level rise. Even the mayor, Dan Gelber, describes it as the "canary in the mine shaft."
Then there is the problem of the very ground on which Miami Beach and much of South Florida sits.
Made from the remnants of ancient coral reefs, the porous limestone beneath
the region is not unlike Swiss cheese, with natural underground "pipes" that allow water to bubble up to the surface, according to Jayantha Obeysekera, director of Florida International University's Sea Level Rise Solutions Center.
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