World flooding....?

Question

When do you think flooding will be a huge issue in the US...like.....when do you think a lot of cities will go under?
Do you think it will happen suddenly.....or gradually?

At first they predicted it 100's of years from now....they changed it to only 100 years from now.....then they changed it to 50 years from now...and global warming is speeding up. How soon will this acutally happen?

And WHERE first????

Answer 1

The areas most at risk from rising sea levels in the US include the coastlines of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, cities affected would include Boston, New York, Charleston, Miami and New Orleans.

Sea levels are rising slowly, currently the global average is an increase of 3.1mm (⅛ inch) per year. This has increased from the 1mm a year in the past and is still increasing. By 2050 it's expected that sea levels will be rising by 6mm (¼ inch) a year and come 2100 by12mm (½ inch) a year. All told, we can expect the seas to rise by around 750mm (30 inches) this century - slightly over half this rise being caused by the thermal expansion of the oceans, most of the remaonder being caused by meltwater running off from the Greenland and Antarctic ice.

These rises are very gradual, there won't be any sudden rises in sea levels - quite simply, this isn't a possibility.

The vulnerability of coastal areas isn't so much from the gradual increase in sea-levles, this is a problem but is one that can be addressed in a timely manner. The biggest danger comes from sudden flooding and particularly flooding associated with strom surges. A 1mm rise in sea levels means the presence of billions of tons more water and it's the sudden inrush of such large amounts of water that can catch people unawares and cause devastation.

It's the one-off and unpredictable events that are the biggest threat in the foreseeable future. We know that sea-levels are rising, it's true to say that every freak wave or coastal flooding event will be exacerbated by global warming - it may not be the cause but it makes things worse.

It's impossible to say when extreme events such as flooding will occur although we do know that these events will become more freqeuent.

As to when people will need to relocate as a consequence of encroaching seas occasioned by rising sea levels - that all depends on just how high above sea level a property is. The process will be a long and slow one over many centuries.

Answer 2

There's no date when things will rapidly get worse. This is a very slow moving problem.

But "fixing" New Orleans levees is surely just throwing money away. It's the only major US city that is (on average) below sea level. Many people may eventually have to move away from the coast, those residents should do so now. There is absolutely no point to rebuilding.

The uncertainty in the dates you see printed is due to "feedback effects". There's not enough data to show how they will affect global warming. Recent record decreases in the Arctic ice cap may be global warming speeding up, or it may just be a few years of unusual weather. The answer to that is crucial for determining the speed of warming.

We know increases in sea level are happening right now, and that they will get worse. We can't say much about exactly when.

Answer 3

that is a actual impossibility for the total globe to have flooded all at the same time. to verify that that to have exceeded off there ought to ought to were a volume of water equivalent to at least a million/3 the quantity of the Moon. A layer of water everywhere in the earth six or seven miles thick. Even over the oceans, because each and each and every of the water ought to easily rush at present again into it. it really is a heck of multiple water to target to account for. the position did all of it flow? I absolutely have requested a good purchase of individuals about this indescrepancy and characteristic yet to recieve a unmarried potential answer to this one. So, NO! the Flood of the Bible basically did not ensue. Raji the golf eco-friendly Witch

Answer 4

Nobody has a crystal ball, though you are right that there are increasing signs of climate change. According to National Geographic -- http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0102/earthpulse/ -- at least 70 percent of all coastal beaches are already being eroded.
If we can all learn to cooperate instead of fight over this, I'm confident that human ingenuity is capable of diminishing this problem, though most scientists agree that it probably can't be stopped entirely.
As far as where will flooding occur, the answers are fairly clear: low-lying coastal regions are most at risk. The state of Louisiana is losing 35 square miles of wetlands a year (see National Geographic article) and countries such as India, Bangladesh, Cuba, Jamaica, Bahamas and others are also at risk.

Answer 5

It's happening now. Turn on the news. New York, Miami and New Orleans are under water. Millions have drowned.

Answer 6

Hopefully in my lifetime so i don't have to travel so far for saltwater fishing