## Sea Level Rise

#### Climate change causes floods, natural disasters, and puts homes underwater



*   [National Ocean Service](https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sealevelclimate.html)
    *   Why Climate change effects sea levels
        *   oceans warm due to an increasing global temperature, causing seawater to expand and take up more space in the ocean basin and causing a rise in water level.
        *   melting of ice over land, which adds water to the ocean.
*   [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Lindsey 18](https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-sea-level)
    *   _“The rising water level is mostly due to a combination of **meltwater from glaciers and ice sheets** and **thermal expansion** of seawater as it warms.”_
    *   <span style="text-decoration:underline;">Scope:</span> In the United States, almost **40 percent of the population **lives in relatively high population-density** coastal areas**, where sea level plays a role in flooding, shoreline erosion, and hazards from storms.
        *   Globally, **8 of the world’s 10 largest cities** are **near a coast**, according to the U.N. Atlas of the Oceans.
    *   Sea levels have been **continuously rising** and put these areas under threat:


![](https://github.com/NB419/source-library/blob/master/images/climate-sea%20level.png?raw=true)



*   [Climate Central Executive Report: Strauss  et al. 12](http://slr.s3.amazonaws.com/SurgingSeas.pdf)
    *   Climate change sea level impact
        *   raised sea level about **eight inches** since 1880
        *    the rate of rise is accelerating
        *   Scientists expect **20 to 80 more inches** this century, a lot depending upon how much more heat-trapping pollution humanity puts into the sky
        *   This study makes mid-range projections of **1 to 8 inches** by 2030, and **4 to 19 inches** by 2050, depending upon location across the contiguous 48 states.
    *   Climate change flooding impact
        *   Rising seas **dramatically increase the odds of damaging floods** from storm surges.
        *   For more than two-thirds of the locations analyzed (and for 85% of sites outside the Gulf of Mexico), past and future global warming more than **doubles t**he estimated odds of “century” or worse floods occurring within the next **18 years**
    *   Impact on homes
        *   At three quarters of the 55 sites analyzed, century levels are higher than 4 feet above the high tide line.
        *   Across the country nearly 5 million people live in 2.6 million homes at less than 4 feet above high tide.
        *   In 285 cities and towns, more than half the population lives on land below this line, potential victims of increasingly likely climate-induced coastal flooding.
        *   3.7 million live less than 1 meter above the tide.
        *   About half of this exposed population, and eight of the top 10 cities, are in the state of Florida. About $30 billion in taxable property is vulnerable below the three-foot line in just three counties in southeast Florida.
