https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/us-sea-level-rise-accelerating-noaa-says-rcna16205
Feb. 15, 2022, 2:35 PM EST / Updated Feb. 16, 2022, 8:14 AM EST
By Evan Bush
Sea level rise is accelerating rapidly and U.S. coasts could on average see another foot of water by 2050, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report released Tuesday.
“The United States is expected to experience as much sea level rise in 30 years as we saw over the span of the entire last century,” Rick Spinrad, the NOAA administrator, said. “Current and future emissions matter, but this will happen no matter what we do about emissions.”
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Global warming — which is driven by the use of fossil fuels — is the primary cause of sea level rise. Scientists have been observing the trend for decades as water expands because of higher temperatures, as glaciers melt and as ice sheets are diminished.
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“A single flooding event, one that now happens every four to five years on average in coastal communities in the southeast United States, will happen four to five times every year,” Nicole LeBoeuf, an assistant administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service, said.
So-called sunny day floods — when coasts are inundated not due to storms, but because of high tides — are projected to increase dramatically, too.
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The report includes five scenarios for sea level rise by 2100. The lowest limits sea level rise to about two feet in comparison to 2000. The highest scenario predicts more than 7 feet of additional sea level rise since the turn of the millennium.
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When sea levels rise, the shape of the coastline changes with it and can move inland to a great extent. If sea levels rise by 1m, the coast can erode inland by 1km [1000m] or more. This can potentially create risk for properties even if they are currently above the height of the projected sea level rise.
[So a one foot rise can erode land inland by 1000 feet [333 yards] or more. ]
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