Flooding Due to Sea Level Rise (IMAGE)
Caption
Researchers at Princeton and Rutgers universities found that sea-level rise will boost the number of moderate and severe coastal floods by different amounts based on the location around the country. In the image, which predicts flooding levels 50 years from now under a scenario with no serious reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, the beige and yellow colors mean little amplification of existing flooding episodes, while blue and purple colors mean hundreds to thousands of times more floods. The southeastern city of Charleston, South Carolina, which is subject to more frequent and severe floods than the northwest, will see an increase in the number of moderate floods as shown in the left panel by the green dot, but a smaller increase in the number of severe floods as shown in the right panel by the yellow dot. The northwestern city of Seattle, which currently experiences few severe floods, will experience little amplification of moderate floods as shown in the left panel by the yellow dot, but a larger amplification in severe floods, as shown in the right panel by the green dot.
Credit
Image courtesy of Maya Buchanan, Princeton University
Usage Restrictions
Image courtesy of Maya Buchanan, Princeton University
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