New reports say rising sea level a threat to entire coastal U.S.

About 3.7 million Americans live within a few feet of high tide and risk being hit by more frequent coastal flooding in coming decades as a result of a sea level rise caused by global warming, according to a report by The New York Times citing new research by Climate Central. If the pace of the rise accelerates as much as expected, researchers say, coastal flooding at levels that were once exceedingly rare could become an every-few-years occurrence by the middle of this century. By far the most vulnerable state is Florida, the new analysis says, with roughly half of the nation’s at-risk population living near the coast on the porous, low-lying limestone shelf that constitutes much of that state. But Louisiana, California, New York and New Jersey are also particularly vulnerable, researchers say, and virtually the entire American coastline is at some degree of risk. “Sea level rise is like an invisible tsunami, building force while we do almost nothing,” says Benjamin Strauss, an author, with other scientists, of two new papers outlining the research. “We have a closing window of time to prevent the worst by preparing for higher seas.” The project on sea level rise led by Strauss for the nonprofit organization Climate Central appears to be the most elaborate effort in decades to estimate the proportion of the national population at risk from the rising sea. The papers are scheduled for publication today in the journal Environmental Research Letters. Read the full story here; and check out a story from 10/12 on the local risk of rising sea levels here.