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Global Warming Will Buoy East Coast Sea Level

Altered Atlantic current means higher flood risk from Boston-DC

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 16, 2009 12:06 PM CDT

(Newser) – The effect of climate change on Atlantic currents will boost the threat of flooding along the US East Coast more than glacial melting alone, a study predicts. New York, Boston, and Washington, DC, are expected to experience more shoreline encroachment and have higher risk of storm surges as changing currents push more water toward the eastern seaboard than toward Europe, Bloomberg reports.

To understand the circulation of the Atlantic, imagine stirring a bathtub full of hot and cold water: The surface will be higher in some places than in others. Melting glaciers add water that is less dense to the Atlantic's surface, which slows down the overall overturn. A study predicted up to 20 inches of sea level rise in New York.

An iceberg melts in Kulusuk Bay, Greenland, in this 2007 file photo. That water will raise sea levels in more ways than one: It also changes ocean circulation.
An iceberg melts in Kulusuk Bay, Greenland, in this 2007 file photo. That water will raise sea levels in more ways than one: It also changes ocean circulation.   (AP Photo)
Maps show selected areas of the United States that would be affected by rising sea level.
Maps show selected areas of the United States that would be affected by rising sea level.
Bill Farrell uses a broom to search a flooded street for a drainage outlet in Howard Beach in New York on Monday, April 16, 2007. Rising sea levels could make such storm surges more common.
Bill Farrell uses a broom to search a flooded street for a drainage outlet in Howard Beach in New York on Monday, April 16, 2007. Rising sea levels could make such storm surges more common.   (AP Photos/Bebeto Matthews)
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Climate change is real and could have serious consequences for New York if we don’t take action. We cannot wait until after our infrastructure has been compromised. - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
Snowleopard
Mar 18, 2009 6:38 AM CDT
I don't think this link refutes the fact that climate change is happening, but just rather demonstrates the important role of weather and climate on our lives and ecosystems.
paul123
Mar 17, 2009 3:52 AM CDT
Snowleopard
Mar 16, 2009 10:29 AM CDT
Repost: Picture a cup of water that's being heated, that has an ice cube floating in it. While the water-warms, the ice cube melts, as the temperatures between the two try to reach a kind of balance. Because of the ice cube, the temperature of the water doesn't really change. But what happens when the ice cube completely melts? There is no longer a backstop preventing the waters temperature from rising, and the water will begin rapidly rising in temperature. This is what is happening with the earths' oceans in respect to it's icecaps. The ice-caps have been acting like a cooling system, preventing the earth from warming from our dramatic increase in greenhouse gases. But at the current rate of loss, the icecaps will be completely gone throughout the summer months within a decade, and at that time their melt-water will no longer be able to cool the oceans. It's only at this point that we're really going to feel the effect of climate change.

Rising tide will let storms hit NY harder
Reuters

Sea level rise is escalating
Associated Press

Easily flooded Maldives to become carbon neutral
BBC

California will be hard-hit, too
Agweek

Science • US • World

 
New York City • Boston • Washington DC • Greenland • sea level • flooding • glacier • ocean temperature • glacial melt • ocean currents

 
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