Climate change, numerous coastal cities in the United States are in danger of rising sea levels. A recent study headed by a multinational group of scientists from the US, the UK, and India supports this. Their research indicates that by 2050, coastal communities in the United States are expected to be submerged under the ocean, increasing the likelihood of catastrophic flooding and inundation.
Sea level rise poses a threat to numerous regions worldwide, not the least of which are the sinking cities along US coastlines. Recent studies have revealed that low-lying coastal communities and some island nations, like the Maldives, are susceptible to underwater submersion. According to prior scientific data, sea levels are rising as a result of glaciers melting as a result of global warming, deepening or engulfing coastal regions.
According to a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, March 6, researchers from the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech National Security Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia, estimated that sea level around US coastlines will rise by 0.25 meters to 0.3 meters by 2050. Thirty-two US cities affected by the presumably impending natural calamity, including New York, San Francisco, Boston, New Orleans, and Miami.
Read also: Climate crisis is “causing animal extinctions”, new study warns
Moreover, coastal subsidence or the sinking of coastal land areas may have an additional impact on the sinking of US cities. The new research report claims that long-term urban planning and coastal management plans frequently ignore this element. Moreover, according to the authors of the scientific study released in March 2024, rising sea levels might endanger between 55,000 and 273,000 individuals as well as 31,000 and 171,000 structures.
The research team involved in the study arrived at their conclusion by combining high-resolution vertical land motion and elevation datasets.
