Global Warming

Rising Sea Levels

Two recent studies reveal that sea levels along the U.S. Gulf Coast and the southern Atlantic coast have risen nearly 5 inches over the past 12 years, nearly double the global average. The increase is accelerating faster than predicted, with scientists warning that it threatens tens of millions of homes in the southern U.S. with worsening floods during the decades ahead.

The rise is also causing high-tide flooding to occur in the region twice as often as at the beginning of this century. One study in the Journal of Climate reveals that damage and fatalities from recent hurricanes across the south have been more acute due to the higher sea levels.