MIAMI—You may have heard the reports or even read my exclusive interviews on this topic. Rising sea levels in South Florida are a reality.

Indeed, the sea level rise from global climate changes threatens to double damages from flooding in low-lying coastal areas over the next two decades. That, of course, will expose insurers, lenders and property owners exposed to more risk than they'd like to take on.

So says a new CBRE report called “Rising Tides, Increasing Risk: How the Insurance Industry's Response to Climate Change Could Impact Commercial Real Estate Investors.” The report explores how insurers, lenders, and investors are responding to the threat of sea level rise in South Florida, one of the country's most vulnerable regions.