SeaLevelRise.org Launches SC, NC, and NY
Following the successful launch of its Spanish release, SeaLevelRise.org continues expansion. The site now features customized information for South Carolina, North Carolina, and New York, available in both English and Spanish.
SeaLevelRise.org is an educational platform dedicated to simplifying the risks, causes, and solutions to sea level rise. Prior to the launch of these three new states, SeaLevelRise.org provided detailed information on how sea level impacts Florida, Virginia, and the United States overall.
While the focus of SeaLevelRise.org has always been on educating the public, elected officials and community leaders about the ever-growing threat that sea level rise poses for America’s coastal communities, the site provides simple, easy-to-understand information that benefits individuals and organizations as well. Since launching the first state in August, SeaLevelRise.org has proven to be an invaluable resource for both elected officials and the general populace.
Similar to the SeaLevelRise.org sites for Florida and Virginia, the three new sections on the site give an overview of what causes seal level rise and flooding, its history and forecast, the threat it poses for each state, and solutions being put into place to mitigate rising waters.
In recent years storm surge flooding brought on by sea level rise has increased in frequency, volume, and damage. In 2016 Hurricane Matthew made landfall in South Carolina, bringing damaging storm surge across most of the state. That same hurricane brought a storm surge tide of 3–4 feet, along with its devastating billion-dollar rain damage, to North Carolina. Without the increase in sea level rise that we’ve seen since 1950, the storm surge in North Carolina during Hurricane Matthew would have been 11 inches lower.
In New York, even though the sea level has risen only 3 inches since 1995, high tide flooding has gone up by 250%. Hurricane Sandy brought a record storm surge tide of 11.3 feet, devastating New York with over $70 billion in damage and widespread flooding. Without the increase in sea levels near New York since 1950, this surge would have been 9 inches lower.
With sea levels continuing to rise at these alarming rates (currently rising by one inch every five years nationally), the need for not only solutions, but the decimation of information becomes increasingly important. With the types of scientific projections offered on SeaLevelRise.org, city officials can decide how houses should be built, where roads should be laid and fixed, and what must be done to protect against flooding from sea level rise.
New sections customized for New Jersey, Texas, and more will be launching in the coming weeks and more state-specific pages will be added to both these and the other states.
