Climate change: Miami, New York under threat as US sea levels to rise at a rate faster
Oceans along the U.S. coastline will rise faster within the next three decades than they did in the past 100 years, bringing more flooding to coastal cities such as New York and Miami, according to the latest projections. Sea levels are expected to rise as much as 12 inches (30 centimeters) by 2050, according to a report led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. While the amounts vary according to region, the inundation will lead to more coastal flooding and make tidal and storm surge more severe, the multi-agency report on climate change said.
“Sea levels are continuing to rise at a very alarming rate,” Bill Nelson, administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. “And it’s endangering communities around the world.”
Rising waters are threatening coastal cities including New York, Boston and Miami, which already commonly experience flooding during high tides that occur with full and new moons. Homes, businesses, highways and other infrastructure along coastlines are vulnerable to damage from flooding and rising sea levels. Nearly 8 million homes, with a reconstruction cost of $1.9 trillion, are at risk of storm surges, according to a 2021 CoreLogic report.
Sea levels in Manhattan could rise by 2 feet as early as 2055 or as late as 2078, depending on the impacts of climate change, according to NOAA estimates. About 7,895 people in Manhattan live in low-lying areas that would flood with less than 2 feet of sea level rise.
High-tide flooding has more than doubled in New York since 2000 and now occurs 10 to 15 times a year, the report said. The annual frequency of flooding in Miami and Charleston, South Carolina, has grown from zero to
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