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By analyzing a digital elevation model (DEM) derived from airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR) data and airborne height finder measurements, this study demonstrates that a 1.5 m sea-level rise by 2100 would cause inundation of large areas of Miami-Dade County, southern Broward County, and Everglades National Park. Inundation processes are non-linear: inundation is gradual before reaching a threshold, and speeds up rapidly afterwards due to the regional topography. Accelerated sea-level rise will cause the threshold to be reached sooner by amplifying the non-linear inundation, and must be considered in policy-making. Comparison of inundated areas extracted from 30 m LIDAR and USGS DEMs indicates that the vertical accuracy of a DEM has a great effect on delineation of inundation areas. For a 1.5 m sea-level rise, the inundated area delineated by USGS DEM for Broward County is 1.65 times greater than that indicated by the LIDAR DEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]