(TheConservativeTimes.org) – United States coastal cities are sinking into the ground because of rising sea levels that are beginning to cover more land on the coast.
A staggering 32 cities on the coast of the United States are at risk of flooding by 2050, according to a paper published by Nature. These cities are experiencing sinking, which is referred to as subsidence, and it could impact more than 250,000 people.
Cities such as Boston, San Francisco, and New Orleans could be among the larger cities affected by the flooding. It will mostly be brought on by a rising sea level and land elevation changes that will make the sea level rise 4 millimeters every year.
The effects that the rising sea level will have depend on the land’s original level; for example, the mountains in California won’t have much of a flood threat, but lower-level areas will. Some places are also sinking while sea levels are rising, which poses imminent flood threats to these areas.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, almost 40% of the population lives on the coast, which means many people would be affected by these changes. Miami is one place that can experience extreme effects of climate change as they already experience “sunny day flooding” from high tides.
Experts state that land subsidence can be managed with different tools that are already available to us. Some ideas to help with this could be building sea walls, raising properties above the rising sea level to lift them, and replenishing groundwater supplies.
“What happens on the land really, really affects us,” said Leonard Ohenhen, a Ph.D. candidate specializing in coastal vulnerability and land subsidence. He pushed the narrative that these changes will absolutely affect our lives and especially the lives of those who live on the coast.
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