Story highlights The fact that Trump's own properties are vulnerable to the impact of climate change is paradoxical

For many coastal communities, the problems have already begun

(CNN) Not far from Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, one expert after another warned Monday about the dangers that rising sea levels pose to Florida's coast.

Not that surprising, except this was a Senate committee field hearing challenging the position shared by President Donald Trump and many Republicans in Congress that climate change isn't real.

The site of the hearing -- just four miles from Trump's weekend getaway in Palm Beach -- was clearly intended to send a signal: Much of Florida's coastline could one day be underwater, including some of the President's own prized properties.

"Today we sit at ground zero of the impacts of climate change in the US," Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson said. "And while there are still some who continue to deny climate change is real, South Florida offers proof that it is real and it's an issue we're going to be grappling with for decades to come."

Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club and his condominiums in Hollywood, Florida, would be partially submerged if sea level rose three feet by the end of the century. Already, Hollywood experiences more incidents of tidal flooding.

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