Underwater: How Melting Glaciers are Contributing to Floods
Every year, damage from climate change grows, resulting in more glacier caps melting. Satellites show that glacier caps are melting 31% faster every year compared to what it was 15 years ago.
According to scientists, most of the change in glacial melting is human-caused and is inevitable with the advancements in technology. The burning of fossil fuels has led to a buildup of greenhouse gases emitting into the air, thus resulting in the warming trend known as climate change.
More than a third of the world’s remaining glaciers will melt before the 22nd century, and 95% of the oldest/thickest ice in the Arctic has already melted. Ice caps are melting at a rate of 9% per decade, and the thickness of the Arctic ice has reduced by 40% from the 1960s.
As more and more glaciers melt, the sea level rises. This is troubling because it leads to an influx of tropical storms and extreme weather. The melting of the ice sheets leads to less reflective surfaces for the sun to reflect off of, making the weather hotter as time goes on. It is predicted that temperatures will rise by 2.5–10 degrees Fahrenheit in the next century.
Hurricanes are three times as frequent compared to 100 years ago, and major hurricanes have doubled since 1980. Rising sea levels increase coastal erosion and elevate storm surge, creating more intense and frequent coastal storms. A prime example of this can be observed in Hurricane Katrina from August 2005.
The storm surge from Katrina reached a staggering height of 30 feet (9.14 m) along the Mississippi coast, penetrating 6 miles (9.66 km) inland. Scientists contribute the storm to a tropical depression, which is caused by rising warm waters. It was considered the costliest hurricane in U.S. history and set new records.
The graph above shows the stable rate of sea-level change in the 1900s. The global sea level has increased by about 8–9 inches since 1880, with about a third coming only from the last three decades. This puts to show how much climate change affects sea level. Scientists predict that 9 inches (ca. 23 cm) will be added by 2050 and 1–3 feet by 2100.
This is also reflected in the recent hurricanes, Hurricane Ida and Henri. These two hurricanes brought much flooding to states near the coastline. Large cities such as Houston and New York are seeing flash floods that have never been seen before.
Increased sea levels will not only result in more storms but also loss of habitat and erosion of beaches. According to Climate Central, out of 8726 floods since 1950 67% of them were human-caused.
A recent study found that from 1988 to 2017, climate change has contributed to 36% of flood damages at the time. The study uses the storm, Elsa, to reflect their findings.
The storm brought heavy rainfall, turning certain parts of NYC into temporary street rivers, and even made residents swim to get into the subway. Hurricane Isaias is another example of this, showing that storms of low intensity can have a large impact. Rainfall totaled to 4–7 inches, with excess leading to severe flash flooding.
Some things that can help reduce climate change include expanding wetlands and marshes, as they can grow at a rate equal to or greater than sea-level rise.
These habitats can gather carbon at a rate of 40 times faster than normal tropical forests, making it an ideal environmental strategy in dealing with climate change.
If coastal wetlands and marshes were allowed to thrive, they could reduce carbon emissions and stabilize coastlines, preventing less flooding if a storm were to hit.
At the rate at which the melting of glaciers is going, there will definitely be a noticeable difference in the weather in the next few decades.
