Climate Central - Interactive Map showing sea level rises and more
January 6, 2023 4:39 PM Subscribe
How sea levels rising will impact coastlines around the world From the Web site...
"Climate Central is an independent group of scientists and communicators who research and report the facts about our changing climate and how it affects people’s lives. We are a policy-neutral 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Climate Central uses science, big data, and technology to generate thousands of local storylines and compelling visuals that make climate change personal and show what can be done about it. We address climate science, sea level rise, extreme weather, energy, and related topics. We collaborate widely with TV meteorologists, journalists, and other respected voices to reach audiences across diverse geographies and beliefs."
Probably helpful to determine where to NOT buy a house... and more... one of my favorite coastal day trip locations will likely be gone in less than 30 years. A home I used to own will likely no longer be accessible by road.
According to these maps, new orleans stopped existing ten years ago, so it s difficult to relate to them.
But it does mean that the native Americans in Louisiana have petitioned the UN that the USA is committing a genocide via forced displacement.
A lot of them are in Steve Scalise's district, which is one of the fastest disappearing land masses on the planet.
posted by eustatic at 8:15 PM on January 6, 2023
But it does mean that the native Americans in Louisiana have petitioned the UN that the USA is committing a genocide via forced displacement.
A lot of them are in Steve Scalise's district, which is one of the fastest disappearing land masses on the planet.
posted by eustatic at 8:15 PM on January 6, 2023
This is a nice complement to a site I visit more often than I should, NOAA's Sea Level Rise Viewer. I spent much of last year reading book after book about climate change, sea level rise, disasters in general, and I'm still left with this question: Where is everyone going to go? Even leaving aside the big coastal cities--even if we say they're rich enough to take care of themselves (is any area that rich?), there are so many towns along the coasts, and while not all of them will receive the same level of inundation from higher sea levels, higher high tides, stronger storms, we're still talking about displacing tens of millions, billions, of people. I look at the coast nearest me. Will all those people just move a few miles inland? Will they displace the thousands of farms and wildlife management areas that are near-but-not-on the coast? Will there be any infrastructure to move them? Will there be any money to move them?
I think my perfect map would also work in reverse: What will dry up? What lakes and rivers will cease to exist, or will turn to puddles and streams? I haven't found that resource yet, but just to finish fleshing out my anxieties I suppose I should look for it.
posted by mittens at 6:25 AM on January 7, 2023 [5 favorites]
I think my perfect map would also work in reverse: What will dry up? What lakes and rivers will cease to exist, or will turn to puddles and streams? I haven't found that resource yet, but just to finish fleshing out my anxieties I suppose I should look for it.
posted by mittens at 6:25 AM on January 7, 2023 [5 favorites]
I lived for a couple of years in the Clear Lake area (between Houston and Galveston) because my ex worked at NASA. That area is going to be in trouble with sea level rise in a big way but the hurricanes will ruin everything before that. Same for Galveston, though those folks are going to ride it out as long as they can. (Theoretically the map says parts of Galveston will survive until 2100 even without further seawalls, but I wonder about the economic viability of the city and permanent residents.)
posted by gentlyepigrams at 9:35 AM on January 7, 2023
posted by gentlyepigrams at 9:35 AM on January 7, 2023
Bangladesh would like everyone to hold its beer...
posted by supermedusa at 10:18 AM on January 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by supermedusa at 10:18 AM on January 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
My nephew recently moved to a barrier island off Georgia. I don't have his address but the map shows most of the island under water in 2050.
My cousin lives on a Florida barrier island but surprisingly his house is still dry in 2150.
There are 4 dams with reservoirs on the upper Willamette River in central western Oregon. After snowmelt, these collectively hold a staggering amount of water, about 500,000 acre-feet. The uppermost dam, the Hills Creek Dam (pictured in a recent FPP about the Corps of Engineers cat calendar), is made of dirt. As in: dirt. When the upcoming Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake occurs, this dam will liquify--it will instantly cease to exist. If this happens in a spring or summer, dam failures will cascade down the river and the cities of Springfield and Eugene will be hit with a wall of water several hundred feet high, scraping the valley floor to bedrock and making way for an interstellar bypass.
posted by neuron at 11:08 AM on January 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
My cousin lives on a Florida barrier island but surprisingly his house is still dry in 2150.
There are 4 dams with reservoirs on the upper Willamette River in central western Oregon. After snowmelt, these collectively hold a staggering amount of water, about 500,000 acre-feet. The uppermost dam, the Hills Creek Dam (pictured in a recent FPP about the Corps of Engineers cat calendar), is made of dirt. As in: dirt. When the upcoming Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake occurs, this dam will liquify--it will instantly cease to exist. If this happens in a spring or summer, dam failures will cascade down the river and the cities of Springfield and Eugene will be hit with a wall of water several hundred feet high, scraping the valley floor to bedrock and making way for an interstellar bypass.
posted by neuron at 11:08 AM on January 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
Why is there no discussion of non-coastal effects on watersheds from sea level rise ?
Newly inundated land will have a higher water table. The land next to the new coast line will also have to have a higher water table. And land next to that land . . . Won't there be changes in water levels and flows throughout all watersheds ?
When sea level rises three feet, a river near me will stop flowing for its last twenty miles. That section of the river will no longer be downhill from the surface and ground water that currently flows to the river. That will have consequences for basements, septic tanks, and storm drains in the flat area surrounding the river. The salt water will kill the plants along the banks of the river. This could result in erosion that changes the course and depth of the river.
Even though all water is connected to all other water, coastal flooding is discussed as though watersheds aren't connected to the coast.
posted by llc at 6:15 PM on January 7, 2023 [5 favorites]
Newly inundated land will have a higher water table. The land next to the new coast line will also have to have a higher water table. And land next to that land . . . Won't there be changes in water levels and flows throughout all watersheds ?
When sea level rises three feet, a river near me will stop flowing for its last twenty miles. That section of the river will no longer be downhill from the surface and ground water that currently flows to the river. That will have consequences for basements, septic tanks, and storm drains in the flat area surrounding the river. The salt water will kill the plants along the banks of the river. This could result in erosion that changes the course and depth of the river.
Even though all water is connected to all other water, coastal flooding is discussed as though watersheds aren't connected to the coast.
posted by llc at 6:15 PM on January 7, 2023 [5 favorites]
llc I also wondered about that. I live near an estuary. Surely that will all be affected.
posted by Zumbador at 2:22 AM on January 8, 2023
posted by Zumbador at 2:22 AM on January 8, 2023
Yeah I live something like 100 miles in from the ocean along a river and it's still tidal enough that we get coastal flooding along the river bank. I'm upstream from the salt line but below the falls.
posted by sepviva at 7:20 AM on January 8, 2023
posted by sepviva at 7:20 AM on January 8, 2023
Why is there no discussion of non-coastal effects on watersheds from sea level rise ?
Well, in the USA, the real estate lobby is a part of this answer. They are a major employer of the wetlands delineators that would describe such changes to floodplains. They are incentivized to not find things like this happening. Most of the scientific expertise is run on this for profit model, and it s a recipe for ignorance.
Not only is head reduced, but rainfall is (generally) increasing in many areas.
But, in the USA, WOTUS designations are highly political. Outlining this will be more unpopular than changing FEMA flood risk maps.
I learned today that some researchers in Texas have found a way to cross reference National Wetlands Inventory data (a program killed by Republicans, the data is old, like 1989 old, Gingrinch era shutdown old) with NASA data on soil moisture.
These researchers found about 28,000 km2 more wet soils across the Gulf Coast than expected, using the NASA data. So, yes, we should talk about emerging floodplains. They are there, just waiting to show themselves as real estate damages.
posted by eustatic at 6:32 PM on January 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
Well, in the USA, the real estate lobby is a part of this answer. They are a major employer of the wetlands delineators that would describe such changes to floodplains. They are incentivized to not find things like this happening. Most of the scientific expertise is run on this for profit model, and it s a recipe for ignorance.
Not only is head reduced, but rainfall is (generally) increasing in many areas.
But, in the USA, WOTUS designations are highly political. Outlining this will be more unpopular than changing FEMA flood risk maps.
I learned today that some researchers in Texas have found a way to cross reference National Wetlands Inventory data (a program killed by Republicans, the data is old, like 1989 old, Gingrinch era shutdown old) with NASA data on soil moisture.
These researchers found about 28,000 km2 more wet soils across the Gulf Coast than expected, using the NASA data. So, yes, we should talk about emerging floodplains. They are there, just waiting to show themselves as real estate damages.
posted by eustatic at 6:32 PM on January 9, 2023 [2 favorites]
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posted by Kitteh at 5:18 PM on January 6, 2023 [1 favorite]