Scientists expect the floods to significantly damage infrastructure and displace communities in coastal areas
By the mid-2030s, all coasts of North America will experience high-tide flooding on a regular basis, NASA warns.
High-tide flooding is already a problem in many cities on the Atlantic coast and the Gulf coast, beginning in the mid-2030s this problem “will increase dramatically”. The reason? Exactly what you are thinking about, but with a curious twist.
HIGHER AND MORE FREQUENT FLOODS
NASA’s Sea Level Change Science Team has conducted the first study to account for all known oceanic and astronomical causes of flooding. And the conclusion is clear: The problem will be exacerbated, and many more places will begin to experience recurring high-tide flooding (HTF) in the coming decades.
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The study, published this month in Nature Climate Change, shows that high tides will exceed known flood thresholds across the country more frequently.
In 2019, the National Office for Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported more than 600 of these floods on US soil. Scientists expect that number to multiply by three or four by the mid-2030s.
In addition, projections show that, in some places, floods could last up to more than a month depending on the positions of the Moon, Earth and the Sun.
“Low-lying areas near sea level are increasingly at risk and suffering due to the increased flooding, and it will only get worse,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.
THE DOUBLE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM
Why might cities on such widely separated shores begin to experience higher flood rates around the same time? The answer is on the Moon. Or more specifically, in a regular wobble in the Moon’s orbit that takes 18.6 years to complete.
That ‘wobble’ in the lunar orbit is not a recent find. It was first identified in 1728. The main novelty is how one of the effects of this wobble on the gravitational pull of the Moon – which, as you well know, is the main cause of the tides of the Earth – will combine with the sea level rise as a result of global warming.
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“NASA’s Sea Level Change Team is providing crucial information so that we can plan, protect, and prevent damage to the environment and people’s livelihoods affected by flooding.”, – Phil Thompson, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii and lead author of the new study.
Because high tide floods involve a small amount of water compared to hurricane storm surges, there is a tendency to view them as less of a problem.
But that will change, after this warning from NASA.
Scientists expect increasingly intense HTF floods to significantly damage infrastructure and displace communities in coastal areas.
“But if it floods 10 or 15 times a month, a business can’t keep operating with its parking lot under water. People lose their jobs because they can’t get to work. Seeping cesspools become a public health issue.”- Phil Thompson
