ALARMING MAP SHOWS HOW RISING SEAS ARE SURGING ACROSS THE US
- Sea levels in the American South are rising twice as fast as world average
- Many areas rose more than six inches in a decade - double the 30 years before
- Scientists warned tidal rising would only get rapidly worse in coming decades
Cities, towns and vacation spots across the American South are 'drowning' under rapidly rising tides that could soon put them underwater.
Ocean levels are at least six inches higher than they were a decade ago along a swathe of the country from Texas to North Carolina. An overall rising ocean is coupled with vicious tidal events that wreak havoc and kill locals, especially when they coincide with storms.
The problem is already affecting thousands of Americans living along the coast, and millions more across the US will feel it in the coming decades.
Climate change is steadily raising sea levels around the world, but the Gulf of Mexico is rising faster than almost anywhere else in the world.
'It’s irreversible,' Jianjun Yin, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona, told the Washington Post.
Scientists are perplexed as to why the region is so badly affected, with few other areas - such as the North Sea near the UK - have shown such as a similar increase.
An analysis by the Post found sea levels were rising twice as fast in the Gulf than the world average, and are dramatically accelerating.
Average sea levels in Charleston, South Carolina, rose 7 inches since 2010, which was twice as much as over the previous 30 years.
Tybee Island in Georgia rose 3.7 inches in 1980 to 2009, then 7.3 inches from 2010 to 2023, and Wilmington, North Carolina, rose 2.7 inches, then 7 inches, over the same spans.
Galveston, Texas, was the worst hit in the Post's research, jumping 8.4 inches in the past 14 years , which experts said was made worse by sinking land.
High tides flooded the area at least 141 times since 2015 and are expected to become far more frequent in the near future.
Local officials in Galveston plan to install water pumps, each costing $60 million, to mitigate the issue and can only afford it using federal grants.
Other huge rises since 2010 included Mobile, Alabama, up 6.7 inches, Miami and Daytona Beach, Florida, both up 6 inches, Savannah, Georgia, up 7.3 inches, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, up 7 inches - all since 2010.
Jacksonville, Florida, rose 6 inches and projected a quarter of major roads could become inaccessible to emergency vehicles during flooding, and the number or residents are risk would soon triple.
Meanwhile in Louisiana, the wetlands that protect the state from storms are 'drowning', clogged septic systems threaten to contaminate water, and insurance companies are hiking policies or refusing to offer than at all.
Climate scientists warn the rises are irreversible even if they stop getting worse as rapidly - which was less likely.
'While it is possible the swift rate of sea level rise could eventually taper, the higher water that has already arrived in recent years is here to stay,' University of Arizona scientist Jianjun Yin told the newspaper.
Others like Western Carolina University professor Rob Young worry all the money thrown at dealing with hurricanes is 'preparing for the wrong disaster'.
'These smaller changes will be a greater threat over time than the next hurricane, no question about it,' he said
William Sweet, an oceanographer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, warned the flooding seen so far would be nothing compared to what's coming.
He expected tidal floods would be 15 times more frequent in 2050 than 2020.
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