South Florida continues to attract new residents despite its susceptibility to sea-level rise. This book explores the views of real estate agent with respect to how prospective homebuyers assess the risk of flooding. It reports on their observations as to whether house prices are stagnant or falling in coastal areas vulnerable to flooding, and their conclusions after working with prospective homebuyers as to whether coastal south Florida is a good place to find a home or, alternatively, a risky investment in a place that will eventually be submerged by rising seas.
The book reports on a 2020 survey of real estate agents and concludes that it is not clear that the housing market has integrated flood risk either into reduced demand for housing or in reduced prices for houses susceptible to flooding. These conclusions have important implications for understanding how the risks of climate change and sea-level rise are reflected in the housing market both now and in the near-term future.
Palm and Bolsen are the authors of a 2020 Springer book titled Climate Change and Sea-level Rise in South Florida. They have a combined deep experience in survey methodology, the study of political communication, the study of environmental hazards and the portrayal of research findings for an audience of university students and general readers. By combining the insights of human geography and political science, they are able to address this complex human-environmental problem.
Palm is the author of 14 books and monographs as well as numerous scholarly articles and invited book chapters. Among her previous books are textbooks for introductory human geography courses (An Invitation to Geography, McGraw-Hill, 2 editions), upper division courses in American cities (Geography of American Cities, Oxford University Press) and natural hazards (Natural Hazards: An Integrative Framework for Research and Planning, Johns Hopkins University Press). She has also published three monographs on earthquake hazards with Westview Press (now part of Harper Collins) including Earthquake Insurance: a longitudinal study, Earthquake Insurance in California: Environmental policy and individual decision-making, and Illusions of Safety: culture and earthquake hazard response in the US and Japan, and another monograph on earthquake hazards with The University of Chicago Press Geography Research Papers (After a California Earthquake: attitude and behavior change). She has received research honors from the American Association of Geographers and served as president of this association.
Bolsen is the author of over 40 scholarly articles and book chapters. His research focuses on the study of political behavior, public opinion formation, political communication, experimental methods, and U.S. energy and climate policy. He has published research in numerous high-impact journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Communication, Political Communication, Climatic Change, Science Communication, Energy Policy, Environmental Communication, and many other outlets. He has received several Best Paper Awards for published work presented at academic conferences.
