Rising seas: Get used to it
Our Latest High-Water Mark
By CRAIG CHILDS, NYT
WATER up to the attics on Staten Island. Flooded subway and commuter tunnels. Power lost to 8.5 million homes and businesses. We get it: this storm and its impacts are huge. What we may not be getting is why.
When the debris is cleared away, we will be left with a new high-water mark. On Monday, sea levels in New York City reached about 14 feet above the average low-tide mark; more than 9 feet above the average high; almost 3 feet above the last record, set in 1821.
In the future, we’re going to see more of the same. Satellite measurements show that the oceans are growing; waters are warming. Both factors increase the effects of storms; warmer waters lead to fiercer storms, and sea levels punch up the surges.
A popular myth about sea level rise is that it happens slowly enough that we will have plenty of time to react. Or there’s the blockbuster legend of a thousand-foot wave sweeping Manhattan and changing the world all at once. Both are unlikely.
(More here.)
WATER up to the attics on Staten Island. Flooded subway and commuter tunnels. Power lost to 8.5 million homes and businesses. We get it: this storm and its impacts are huge. What we may not be getting is why.
When the debris is cleared away, we will be left with a new high-water mark. On Monday, sea levels in New York City reached about 14 feet above the average low-tide mark; more than 9 feet above the average high; almost 3 feet above the last record, set in 1821.
In the future, we’re going to see more of the same. Satellite measurements show that the oceans are growing; waters are warming. Both factors increase the effects of storms; warmer waters lead to fiercer storms, and sea levels punch up the surges.
A popular myth about sea level rise is that it happens slowly enough that we will have plenty of time to react. Or there’s the blockbuster legend of a thousand-foot wave sweeping Manhattan and changing the world all at once. Both are unlikely.
(More here.)
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