Ground: Zero Beyond the earth, the literal dirt that we share, the term evokes site, locus, and the menace of a target. In the case of South Florida, ground zero might point to our precarious position as a canary in the coalmine for climate change as we find ourselves in the crosshairs of sea level rise and strengthening storms. It also evokes closeness. Where the sky meets the sea, level with the horizon. Ground: Zero.