News
Report: Warming Doubles Extreme Coastal Flood Risk Across U.S.
Published 3/14/12
Description: Sea level rise, storms, and global warming’s threat to the U.S. coast Date: March 14, 2012 Full PDF of Report Executive Summary Global warming has raised sea level about 8 inches since 1880, and 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 1-8 inches by 2030, and 4-19 inches by 2050, depending upon location across the contiguous 48 states. Rising seas dramatically increase the odds of damaging floods from storm surges. For over two-thirds of the locations… More »
Surging Seas Press Release
Published 3/13/12
STORY & WEBSITE EMBARGOED UNTIL 10:30 AM ET, MARCH 14 Contacts: Ben Strauss, 609-924-3800 bstrauss@climatecentral.org Richard Wiles, 609-986-1980 rwiles@climatecentral.org REPORT: GLOBAL WARMING DOUBLES EXTREME COASTAL FLOOD RISK NATIONWIDE Rising Sea Levels Threaten Millions by Boosting Storm Surges (March 14 – Princeton, NJ) Sea level rise due to global warming has already doubled the annual risk of coastal flooding of historic proportions across widespread areas of the United States, according to a new report from Climate Central. By 2030, many locations are likely to see storm surges combining with sea level rise to raise waters at least 4 feet above… More »
New Map Tool and Widgets: What’s Your Coastal Flood Risk?
Published 3/8/12
By Michael D. Lemonick This is the first map ever created that lets you see the combined coastal flood threat from sea level rise and storm surge, town by town and city by city from Maine to the State of Washington. Just type in your Zip code or the name of your community, choose a water level anywhere from 1 to 10 feet above the current high-tide line, and you can see what areas might be at risk of flooding from water that high. You can also go to any one of 55 tide gauges we studied around the country, and see the… More »
The Surging Seas Story
Published 3/8/12
By Michael D. Lemonick Looking back, it should have been obvious that the Surging Seas project was a perfect fit for Climate Central. Our mission is to bring home the threats posed by climate change — and sea level rise is high on that list. Ben Strauss The truth, however, is that Surging Seas came about largely by accident. In 2009, Climate Central scientist Ben Strauss was putting together a multimedia project on melting ice in Greenland, and thought a good way to illustrate the problem would be to talk about the ice-melt danger to specific American cities, by way… More »
Coverage of Report Inundates the Nation
Published 3/7/12
Climate Central’s “Surging Seas” has been featured by media across the country. Stories inspired by the March 2012 report and website have appeared in more than 800 broadcast reports, radio programs, and print and online publications, a total that is still growing. That includes featured coverage by the New York Times, The Associated Press, Reuters, NBC Nightly News, CBS News, CNN and PBS NewsHour, plus widespread local coverage. The following represent some of what those news outlets have had to say about the report: Watch the video on how Surging Seas was covered nationally New York Times Rising… More »