Sea level on the east coast rose more in the 20th century than in the last 2,000 years

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A new study may confirm that Atlantic City and other areas of southern New Jersey will be submerged someday by rising sea levels.

A team led by Rutgers University determined that sea level along the east coast of the U.S. rose faster in the 20th century than any in the past 2,000 years, with the fastest rising in Garden State.

The researchers analyzed levels in six locations in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and North Carolina, revealing that the locations experienced a 1.4-inch rise in sea level in total from 1900 to 2000.

However, southern New Jersey had the fastest rates, with about 0.63 inches per decade in some areas and 0.6 inches in others.

According to researchers, rising sea levels are contributing to melting ice and warming oceans as a result of climate change.

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Pictured is dwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. The photo was taken in October 2016
Here the same feature is made a month later, which reveals a landscape flooded by rising sea levels

Scientists have long speculated that Atlantic City and other areas of southern New Jersey will be submerged one day by sea level rise and a new study may confirm this claim. Pictured is Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey, showing how sea level has risen

“The study first examined the phenomena that contributed to sea level change over 2,000 years at six locations along the coast, using a sea level budget,” the team shared in a statement.

The researchers chose to use a seal-level budget, which would improve understanding of the processes leading to sea level change.

Processes are global, regional (including geological ones, such as land subsidence) and local, such as groundwater withdrawal.

Jennifer S. Walker, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Rutgers-New Brunswick University School of Arts and Sciences, said: “Having a complete understanding of sea level change in places in the long term it is essential for regional and local planning and responding to future sea level rise. “

The researchers analyzed levels in six locations in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and North Carolina, revealing that the locations experienced a 1.4-inch rise in sea level in total from 1900 to 2000.

The researchers analyzed levels in six locations in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and North Carolina, revealing that the locations experienced a 1.4-inch rise in sea level in total from 1900 to 2000.

“By learning how different processes vary over time and contribute to sea level change, we can more accurately estimate future contributions at specific sites.”

Climate change has become one of the main focuses of the scientific community in recent years, which has also set their sights on islands, cities and the lowlands.

With the melting of glaciers and the warming of the oceans, sea levels make these places more vulnerable to flooding and storm damage.

The great hurricane of 1938 plowed through New England, devoured Long Island and Connecticut.

The storm, considered the worst in New England history, left 564 dead, more than 1,700 injured and destroyed some 15,000 infrastructure.

A more recent event occurred in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy swept through southern New Jersey and as far as Long Island, New York, leaving nothing but destruction in its path.

It caused $ 70 billion in damage, cut off the power of 8.5 million Americans, and destroyed some 650,000 homes.

And scientists relate these devastating events to rising sea levels.

“Most sea level budget studies are global and limited to the 20th and 21st centuries, according to the recent study.

Researchers led by Rutgers estimated sea level budgets for longer periods of 2,000 years.

“The goal was to better understand how the processes that drive sea level have changed and can shape future changes, and this sea level budgeting method could be applied to other parts of the world.”

A recent event occurred in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy swept through southern New Jersey and as far as Long Island, New York, leaving nothing but destruction in its path. The image shows the aftermath of the Sandy Sandstorm in Atlantic City

A recent event occurred in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy swept through southern New Jersey and as far as Long Island, New York, leaving nothing but destruction in its path. The image shows the aftermath of Storm Sandy in Atlantic City

Using a statistical model, the scientists developed sea level budgets for six sites, dividing sea level records into global, regional, and local components. They found that regional land subsidence - the collapse of the earth since the Laurentide ice sheet was removed thousands of years ago - has dominated each site's budget for the past 2,000 years.

Using a statistical model, scientists developed sea level budgets for six sites, dividing sea level records into global, regional, and local components. They found that regional land subsidence — land subsidence since the Laurentide ice sheet was removed thousands of years ago — has dominated each site’s budget for the past 2,000 years.

Using a statistical model, the scientists developed sea level budgets for six sites, dividing sea level records into global, regional, and local components.

They found that regional land subsidence — land subsidence since the Laurentide ice sheet was removed thousands of years ago — has dominated each site’s budget for the past 2,000 years.

Other regional factors, such as ocean-specific dynamics and site-specific local processes, such as groundwater withdrawal that help land subsidence, contribute much less to each budget and vary by time and location.

GLACIERS AND ICE SHEETS THAT HAD A “DRAMATIC IMPACT” ON GLOBAL SEA LEVELS

Global sea level could rise to 3 feet if the Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica collapses.

Sea level rise threatens Shanghai’s cities in London, as far as low-lying Florida or Bangladesh, and entire nations like the Maldives.

In the UK, for example, a climb of 2 meters (6.7 feet) or more can cause areas such as Hull, Peterborough, Portsmouth and parts of East London and the Thames estuary to be submerged.

The collapse of the glacier, which could begin decades later, could also flood major cities such as New York and Sydney.

Parts of New Orleans, Houston and Miami in the southern U.S. would also be particularly affected.

A 2014 study examined by the Union of Concerned Scientists examined 52 sea level indicators in U.S. communities.

He found that tidal floods will increase dramatically in many locations on the east coast and gulf, based on a conservative estimate of projected sea level rises based on current data.

The results showed that most of these communities will experience a sharp increase in the number and severity of tidal flood events over the next few decades.

By 2030, more than half of the 52 communities studied are expected to experience, on average, at least 24 tidal floods in the exposed areas, assuming projections of moderate sea level rise. Twenty of these communities could see a triple or more at tidal flood events.

The mid-Atlantic coast is expected to record some of the largest increases in flood frequency. Places like Annapolis, Maryland and Washington, DC, can expect more than 150 tidal floods a year, and several New Jersey locations could see 80 or more tidal floods.

In the UK, a two-meter (6.5-foot) climb in 2040 would allow large parts of Kent to be submerged almost completely, according to the results of a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in November 2016.

Areas on the south coast such as Portsmouth as well as Cambridge and Peterborough would also be severely affected.

Cities and towns around the Humber Estuary, such as Hull, Scunthorpe and Grimsby, would also experience intense flooding.

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