Cities, towns and vacation spots across the southern United States are “drowning” under rapidly rising tides that could soon submerge them underwater.
Ocean levels are at least six inches higher than they were a decade ago along a swath of the country from Texas to North Carolina. The general rising of the ocean is combined with ferocious tides 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 will be felt by millions more across the United States in the decades to come.
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 conference. Washington Post.
Cities, towns and vacation spots across the southern United States are “drowning” under rapidly rising tides that could soon submerge them underwater. Pictured: An $18 million waterfront mansion in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Scientists are puzzled as to why the region is so affected, as few other areas, such as the North Sea near the UK, have shown a similar increase.
An analysis by the Mail found that sea levels were rising twice as fast in the Gulf as the global average, and are accelerating dramatically.
The average sea level in Charleston, South Carolina, has risen 7 inches since 2010, twice as much as in the previous 30 years.
Tybee Island in Georgia rose 3.7 inches between 1980 and 2009, then 7.3 inches between 2010 and 2023, and Wilmington, North Carolina, rose 2.7 inches, then 7 inches, in the same reaches.
Galveston, Texas, was hardest hit according to the Post’s investigation, jumping 8.4 inches over the past 14 years, which experts say was made worse by land subsidence.
A $5 million mansion in Spring Hill, Florida. Many coastal cities have experienced massive sea level rise since 2010.
Scientists are puzzled as to why the region is so affected. Pictured: An $8 million home in Destin, Florida
A $4.6 million home sits by the water in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Experts say sea level rise is irreversible
High tides have flooded the area at least 141 times since 2015 and are expected to become much more frequent in the near future.
Local officials in Galveston plan to install water pumps, each costing $60 million, to mitigate the problem and can only afford it through federal grants.
Other large increases since 2010 included Mobile, Alabama, with an increase of 6.7 inches, Miami and Daytona Beach, Florida, both with an increase of 6 inches, Savannah, Georgia, with an increase of 7.3 inches, and Myrtle Beach , South Carolina, with an increase of 7 inches, all since 2010.
Jacksonville, Florida, rose 6 inches and it was projected that a quarter of major roads could become inaccessible to emergency vehicles during flooding, and the number of residents at risk would soon triple.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana, wetlands that protect the state from storms are “drowning,” clogged septic systems threaten to contaminate water, and insurance companies are increasing their policies or refusing to offer them.
An aerial view of destroyed beachfront homes following Hurricane Nicole in Daytona Beach, Florida
Climate scientists warn that the increases are irreversible even if they stop worsening as quickly, which was less likely.
Ormond Beach, Florida, is among stunning beaches at risk from rising tides
Climate scientists warn that the increases are irreversible even if they stop worsening as quickly, which was less likely.
“Although rapid sea level rise may eventually subside, the higher water level that has already reached in recent years is here to stay,” University of Arizona scientist Jianjun Yin told the newspaper.
Others, like Rob Young, a professor at Western Carolina University, fear that all the money going to deal with hurricanes is “preparing for the wrong disaster.”
“These smaller changes will eventually be a bigger threat than the next hurricane, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.
William Sweet, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, warned that the flooding seen so far would be nothing compared to what is coming.
He expected tidal flooding to be 15 times more frequent in 2050 than in 2020.