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7 cities threatened by rising seas
Millions of Americans could lose their homes to encroaching waters in the next few decades if climate change continues to go unchecked. These low-lying, coastal cities are particularly at risk.
By Michael B. Sauter and Thomas C. Frohlich, 24/7 Wall St.
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Rising waters, soggy cities
If climate change goes unchecked, sea levels in the United States could rise as much as 23 feet by the end of the century, affecting 18 million people in hundreds of cities along the nation's coasts. According to the nonprofit climate research group Climate Central, there is a real chance that large urban areas could be almost entirely submerged by rising ocean levels caused by global warming.
Climate Central's report estimated rising sea levels for thousands of municipalities around the country. While many coastal communities will be affected to some degree, some low-lying cities are more at risk than most. In New Orleans, for example, it found that there is at least a 50% chance that water levels will rise five feet by 2030, submerging 90% of the area's homes and displacing more than 300,000 residents.
Using Climate Central's data, the website 24/7 Wall St. found the seven large metropolitan areas in which at least a fifth of all homes could be submerged in the next 40 years if climate change continues to accelerate. Large residential or commercial areas in these cities are just five feet or less above sea level, and several have neighborhoods located so close to, or even below, sea level that they are protected by flood levees -- which can fail under harsh conditions, as made apparent in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
Some of these cities could see dramatic effects in the next few decades, while for others, extreme flooding isn't a real possibility until closer to the end of the century. To make the list, there had to be at least a one-in-six chance that 20% or more of the city's housing units would be threatened by rising waters by 2050. Estimates of current population and housing units at risk (defined as 1-in-6 odds or greater) are based on 2010 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Click through this slide show to see seven cities threatened by rising sea levels.
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