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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSea level to rise one foot along U.S. coastlines by 2050, government report finds
The shorelines of the United States are projected to face an additional foot of rising seas over the next three decades, intensifying the threat of flooding and erosion to coastal communities across the country, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Human-caused climate change, driven mostly by the burning of fossil fuels, has accelerated global sea level rise to the fastest rate in more than 3,000 years. The report by NOAA, NASA and five other federal agencies updating a study from 2017 predicts that ocean levels along U.S. coasts will increase as much by 2050 as they did over the past century.
Looking ahead to the end of the century, the amount of planet-warming pollution people release into the atmosphere could mean the difference between sea levels stabilizing at about two feet above the historical average or surging by almost eight feet, NOAA reports.
This report is a wake-up call for the U.S., but its a wake-up call with a silver lining, NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad told journalists in a teleconference Tuesday. It provides us with information needed to act now to best position ourselves for the future.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/02/15/sea-level-rise-2050-climate/
On June 1, 2017, United States President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would cease all participation in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change mitigation,
contending that the agreement would "undermine" the U.S. economy, and put the U.S. "at a permanent disadvantage."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_withdrawal_from_the_Paris_Agreement
jpak
(41,742 posts)Yikes
Johnny2X2X
(18,745 posts)Florida is going to be a mess. And 1 foot is the start, 2 feet after that if we do the right things seems the minimum, 8 feet if we continue to largely ignore the problem. Florida might be mostly gone in 100 years, it might be a series of islands.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Bleacher Creature
(11,237 posts)The Florida electorate should be a case study on voting against your own best interests.
Buckeyeblue
(5,491 posts)PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,750 posts)That sounds very optimistic, especially given how quickly glaciers in Antarctica and Greenland are melting. Every time they take another look at them, they are melting faster.
Johnny2X2X
(18,745 posts)They were talking about how a few inches would be a big deal, 1 foot absolutely puts large parts of major US cities under water.
PoindexterOglethorpe
(25,750 posts)by 2030.
Anyone who already lives less than 50 feet above sea level needs to seriously think about moving to higher ground.
Johnny2X2X
(18,745 posts)30 feet isnt happening. 5 feet will be catastrophic and a billion people or more will be displaced.