Posted on 12/21/2014 5:25:36 AM PST by raybbr
SAN FRANCISCO — Major U.S. coastal cities, including Washington, D.C. and Wilmington, North Carolina, have already slipped past a sea level rise-related “tipping point,” and into a new era of increasingly common and damaging coastal flooding events, a new study found.
Other cities along the East and Gulf Coasts are following close behind, with the majority of coastal areas in the U.S. expected to see 30 or more days of “nuisance-level flooding” each year by 2050, regardless of how significantly countries cut emissions of the greenhouse gases that are causing global warming, according to the study.
The study defines this flood frequency as the "tipping point" in the local flood regime, with major implications for the management of coastal roads and critical infrastructure located close to sea level, since there will be far less time for repairs between floods.
Nuisance-type flooding is defined as flooding to a height of between 1 to 2 feet above local high-tide levels. Such floods, the study said, are now five to 10 times more likely today than they were just 50 years ago.
Miami Flooding
A cyclist and vehicles negotiate heavily flooded streets as rain falls on Sept. 23, 2014, in Miami Beach, Florida. Certain neighborhoods regularly experience flooding during heavy rains and extreme high tides.
Although the term “nuisance floods” may connote minor flooding with little reason for concern, the impacts of repetitive floods should not be underestimated, the study’s lead author, William Sweet of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), told reporters at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union on Thursday.
“It’s an emerging flooding crisis,” Sweet, an oceanographer with NOAA’s National Ocean Service, said.
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I’m going down to the DC area for Christmas. I wonder if I should strap a kayak, or a submarine, to the top of the car.
I’m dizzy from all the spin.
LOL
The only thing rising in DC is the shxt from the politicians. I’d recommend some tall boots.
Wouldn’t DC under water be like, a good thing?
Another empty promise to stop the rising seas if elected!
There are parts of NOLA that are 11 feet below sea level.
The sea level is not rising. The land is slipping toward the ocean by continental drift.
Obama will sign an executive order stating that Mother Nature cease and dissist all flooding....everything will be alright once he gets his pen out...
I guess the USS North Carolina is floating again.
Actually it is not continental drift, it is isostatic rebound. DC (and the entire area from Wilmington, NC to Trenton, NJ) is sinking because Quebec is rising. ~3 mi thick ice sheets are heavy.
Good one
If Global Warming means Washington DC is going to be flooded beyond repair, maybe its not such a bad thing after all.
DC gets washed away? and there is a down side?
Very good...... isostatic rebound I will try to remember that term
DC under water?
I think I better throw another log on the fire and release some more carbon.
I think that the Washington Monument being the only remaining visible thing in the Former DC would be inspiring. We can make a fresh start as long as we have a copy of the Constitution.
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