The rise in sea levels, along with various environmental factors, is projected to cause numerous floods in US coastal cities each autumn. Sunny Day Flooding is expected to become commonplace across many coastal areas worldwide, as the Arctic approaches a significant transformation.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that the past year has seen record high-tide flooding along U.S. coasts, with expectations that rising sea levels will cause these floods to encroach upon streets, homes, and businesses with greater frequency in the coming decade. These surges, often called "sunny day" or "nuisance" floods, are growing more frequent as sea levels rise. The agency's annual report indicates that floods, once primarily storm-related, now occur during regular events like full-moon tides or shifts in prevailing winds. This finding is supported by Philip Thompson, director of the Sea Level Center at the University of Hawaii.
The journal Nature Climate Change has reported that higher and more frequent tides will become a critical issue in the 2030s, especially along the West Coast and in island regions such as Hawaii, turning "nuisance flooding" into a common occurrence. "Many East Coast areas are already facing recurrent impacts," Thompson notes. "By the mid-2030s, other regions will rapidly experience similar effects. It will shift from a regional East Coast problem to a nationwide concern, with the majority of the country's coastlines regularly impacted by high-tide flooding."
Flooding typically results from higher-than-average sea levels and the increased intensity and duration of storms, hurricanes, tropical cyclones, and other weather phenomena. It's not confined to areas near water bodies; deserts, mountains, and coastal vicinities also experience flooding. Researchers are now focusing on a new flood risk: tidal flooding, also known as sunny day flooding, which occurs unexpectedly during clear weather. Contrary to the common association of flooding with storms or specific seasons, sunny day flooding can happen without any prior rainfall or even a cloud in sight. This phenomenon is being recognized by scientists as a manifestation of climate change impacting our environment.
Studies indicate that tidal flooding instances have surged by 1000% on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts of the United States since the 1970s. Data from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, reveal that increased flooding is displacing communities in the Louisiana bayous and the Marshall Islands. Florida and Louisiana communities are particularly at risk due to their proximity to the ocean and low elevation; climate change is expected to exacerbate 'sunny day' flooding, increasingly displacing residents. Approximately one in seven homeowners in Florida lacks property insurance, despite the high risk of hurricanes and floods, largely because insurance firms are reluctant to cover coastal properties in most of the state, as reported by the Insurance Information Institute.
Approximately sixty percent of Earth's surface fresh water is contained within the vast continental Antarctic ice sheet. Should this ice melt, it is estimated to result in a sea level rise of about 60 meters, whereas the melting of the Greenland ice sheet would contribute to a rise of approximately 7 meters. Parts of the Antarctic ice sheet are more stable than others. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is considered to be the most vulnerable to collapse and melting, which could lead to a sea level increase of around 5 meters.
A mere few meters of sea level rise could wreak havoc on global coastlines and numerous major cities. Countries like Bangladesh and the Netherlands, as well as island nations such as the Maldives, would face significant flooding risks. Presently, over half of the average sea level increase is due to the thermal expansion of water, with the remainder caused by melting ice. Scientists had previously assumed that the vastness of the oceans would prevent them from heating significantly at depth for a long time, but the 1.03-degree temperature rise in the Gulf of Mexico in 2023 challenged this belief. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has documented the melting of ice sheets and the warming of the seas. The reluctance of countries to divest from carbon fuels means that these changes will likely accelerate, as the tipping point for reversing climate change has been surpassed.
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