WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Within 25 years, rising seas will extend the potential reach of a severe coastal flood over areas where more than 2.5 million Americans currently live, according to a new climate analysis.
The homes of an estimated 271,000 New York City residents, as well as large numbers of people in Boston, New York's Long Island, and coastal New Jersey are under threat of being inundated.
Florida is the U.S. state facing the greatest threat, with more than 500,000 residents living within the projected risk zone of a 100-year flood by mid-century, says the study published by Climate Central.
Florida homes represent roughly one-quarter of the 1.4 million homes within reach of a severe coastal flood by 2050. Those sites are mapped by Coastal Risk Finder, a publicly available online screening-level tool.
The affected areas could be impacted by floodwaters during an event with a 1 percent annual likelihood of occurring, or a so-called 100-year flood, the study says.
'As sea level rise accelerates in response to climate change, flooding during coastal storms will threaten more homes in the U.S. every year,' said Kristina Dahl, vice president for science at Climate Central. 'By pinpointing local risks, science and technology can lead the way toward solutions that protect coastal residents in an increasingly hazardous future.'
The nonprofit news organization that analyzes and reports on climate science, said its analysis is based on the most recently available data from the U.S. Census and sea level rise projections from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
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