What Would A Rise In Sea Level Do To You?

[jyl]

Will your house be underwater?

There are some Google-based sites where you can see what happens if the ocean level rises by the amount that you specify. Here is one

http://flood.firetree.net/?ll=43.3251,-101.6015&z=13&m=7

There are better ones using Google Earth too.

I took a look at what a 2 meter rise would do.

Interestingly, most of the West Coast seems okay, except for a few specific spots (the Delta and part of the Peninsula in NorCal, some of the bays in Oregon, some islands in Puget Sound, etc). For the most part, either our coastlines are steep-ish, or you can't build right on the ocean's edge anyway.

However, significant parts of the East Coast are submerged, especially down south (NC SC FL LA etc) and also some Northeast and Mid-Atlantic spots (including some that I don't really think of as "coastal", like a good bit of New Jersey). And presumably people living on some inland waterways.

So, if or when the ocean rises 1 meter, then 2 meters, a lot of people are going to lose their largest possession. I think tens of millions of people. There's no way we can surround the East Coast with levees.

Are you one of them? Do you think this will affect you - not necessarily that your home will be underwater in your lifetime, but as ocean levels rise presumably you're more vulnerable to flooding and un-insurable, and maybe your property value falls since "owning" the property is now effectively nothing more than a "lease", no bank will write a mortgage on it, etc.

If you're not one of them, do you think you will be affected anyway? Will a coastal road have to be moved inland, requiring eminent domain seizure of your property? Will your beaches be submerged, making your region less desirable (asking all of you Martha's Vineyarders out there).

What, if anything, do you think we can do to protect our coastline? Maybe we put in a thousand-mile breakwater?

Oh, yeah, Stijn, how will you accomodate the entire country of Holland as they relocate to Belgium? Do you like the Dutch?

I know what I'm doing. I'm going to make sure my kids and I visit Venice several more times in the next few decades, while it is still there.

[porsche4life]

Nothing I live in OK. It might push more Cali Hand wrinning ninnies this way however.



BOOO Sea level rise.

[Evans, Marv]

No effect especially after I move up to 3,400 ft. elevation in a couple of months.

[RWebb]

if it floods the valley, I can fish from my house

but, seriously, everyone would be affected, OK or no -- just not directly

[island911]

2 meters?

What if the moon's orbit decayed and slammed into the earth?

[pwd72s]

The earth is falling! THE EARTH IS FALLING!

[trekkor]

While most of Napa is lost with +14m, I'm still in the clear up in the hills.


KT

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Better surf?

[island911]

Paul

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by jyl

I know what I'm doing. I'm going to make sure my kids and I visit Venice several more times in the next few decades, while it is still there.

Make sure to check out the Maldives, too. They'll be first.

[pwd72s]

What would happen to your home if the terrorists set off a dirty nuke in your city?

A more likely scenario.

[Bill Douglas]

I live about 30 yards from the sea and not that much above it. And if I live for another 200 years I really will be worried

Stangely we get the occasional high tide. It's a combination of well, a high tide, and a low air pressure, plus the moon and a few stars (I made up the bit about the stars) all happening at once. And... If it was combined with a big swell I'd be able to surf through the French doors all the way to the fridge.

A few of the Coconuts living in Kirabas are starting to relocate to nearby places like Samoa and Fiji (and New Zealand).

[cl8ton]

Are we talking Al Gore rising or historically it does this naturally rising?
I’m all for warmer weather and better surf

[TimT]

I live 4 miles from the Atlantic ocean.. and I live on the end of an estuary from a bay that leads to the ocean...the end of a canal is about 150' from my front door.

In the other direction are some fresh water ponds and streams... the nearest pond is about 500' away...

According to survey data, the sill of my house is approximately +8 ft... Most of us know that sea level equals 0 whether English or metric units

A permanent 2m rise of sea level would be drastic in my area....However I don't think I will see permanent changes in sea level in my lifetime..

including some that I don't really think of as "coastal", like a good bit of New Jersey

Jerseys coast is a huge flood plain ... And then the Delaware river feeds a huge or maybe an equal or larger flood plain..

And finally different combination's of full moon, wind, and time of year can make a difference between whether your street or basement floods..

[TimT]

View Larger Map


My house is very close to these bodies of water...

The Atlantic shore is 4 miles from here..

and note the delta in elevations is only a few feet in the image you see...

[TimT]

RoninLB lives even closer

He lives somewhere on this sand bar

ht
View Larger Maptp://

[HardDrive]

You guys are getting caught up in the details. The point is that you need to PANIC and buy a hybrid. Meanwhile, Sanjay and Po will be purchasing their second 2 cycle scooter with their new found money......

[vash]

the small creek near my home would flood and make me miserable.

[LeRoux Strydom]

Seaside properties would be a lot closer to me if sea levels rise. Since I live at 4700 ft, any such rise would have to be significant to cause me any headaches. Only downside would be the low-land people wanting to become my neighbours.

Makes me think of the Italian joke that goes: The biggest wish of Northern Italians is that the whole of Southern Italy would disappear into the Mediterranean Sea, then rise up again just long enough for all their relatives to go down to Rome for the funerals, then drop back down into the sea again.

[masraum]

I'd be fine up until somewhere between 10 and 14 meters. If it rises that much, I might have beach/swamp front property.

I suspect that a 10m rise will be so slow that I'll have a chance to get out of it's way.