A recent Rolling Stone article is receiving quite a bit of attention after its bold claim that Miami very well could be underwater by the year 2100. As the author of that article, Jeff Goodell, points out, it is a simple matter of global warming and common sense.

"Sea-level rise is not a hypothetical disaster. It is a physical fact of life on a warming planet, the basic dynamics of which even a child can understand: Heat melts ice," writes Goodell in "Goodbye, Miami."

Goodell claims there are numerous factors that contribute to the likelihood of Miami's eventual destruction. He contends that all of the data and the findings from various experts point to the unfortunate conclusion that Miami will be an underwater Atlantis in less than a century. For Goodell, Miami is a perfect storm of low elevation amid a rising sea.

"Half the area that surrounds Miami is less than five feet above sea level. Its highest natural elevation, a limestone ridge that runs from Palm Beach to just south of the city, averages a scant 12 feet. With just three feet of sea-level rise, more than a third of southern Florida will vanish; at six feet, more than half will be gone; if the seas rise 12 feet, South Florida will be little more than an isolated archipelago surrounded by abandoned buildings and crumbling overpasses," he writes.

Goodell also goes on to point out that there will be quite a bit of chaos and calamity before Miami's eventual plunge into the sea. He notes that there will be people scrambling to save the city from its collapse. Insurance companies will flood the area (pun intended) first, but there will be no saving Miami.

It appears that Miami might meet a similar fate as New Orleans after during Hurricane Katrina. While New Orleans was eventually able to partially recover, that was only because of its complex system of levies. Miami, however, would be threatened by flooding on all sides, and no amount of levies could protect the city from sinking, contends Goodell.

"There is no serious thinking, no serious planning, about any of this going on at the state level," said Chuck Watson, a disaster-­impact analyst. "The view is, 'Well, if it gets real bad, the federal government will bail us out.' It is beyond denial; it is flat-out delusional."