Climate change is causing seas to rise — and threatening cities along the West Coast. At the current rate of greenhouse gas emission, scientists estimate that global temperatures will increase by an average of 8 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century, melting polar ice sheets and upping sea levels by a meter. According to recent research from the University of Arizona, by 2100, higher tides will inundate an average of 9 percent of the land area of coastal cities in the Lower 48. In subsequent centuries, “that amount of warming will likely lock us into at least 4 to 6 meters of sea-level rise,” says lead researcher Jeremy Weiss.
Lower-lying East Coast cities will be hit hardest, but some Western cities are getting ready for the deluge. Maps to the right show projected sea-level rise and note how some Western communities are responding.
At least one Alaskan town, though, isn’t worried — because the land it’s on is rising, too. As the Mendenhall Glacier melts and retreats inland — another byproduct of climate change — the land under Juneau is actually lifting faster than the sea is rising. Most West Coast communities won’t be so lucky.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline As seas rise, cities retreat.
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