Sea Level Rise Making Floods Routine for Coastal Cities

Coastal American cities are sinking into saturated new realities, new analysis has confirmed.  Sea level rise has given a boost to high tides, which are regularly overtopping streets, floorboards and other low-lying areas that had long existed in relatively dehydrated harmony with nearby waterfronts.  The trend is projected to worsen sharply in the coming years.

A new report, released by the Union of Concerned Scientists late on Tuesday, forecasts that by 2030, at least 180 floods will strike during high tides every year in Annapolis, Md.  In some cases, such flooding will occur twice in a single day, since tides come in and out about two times daily.  By 2045, that’s also expected be the case in Washington, D.C., Atlantic City, N.J. and 14 other East Coast and Gulf Coast locations out of 52 analyzed by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

In the absence of flood-deflecting marshes, seawalls or levees, two-thirds of the 52 communities studied can expect a tripling in the frequency of high-tide flooding during the next 15 years, the researchers concluded.  Half of the communities studied are expected to be flooded more than two dozen times every year by 2030.

Sea Level Rise Making Floods Routine for Coastal Cities