Rising Sea Levels: New York, San Francisco, Other US Coastal Cities to Sink Into the Ocean by 2050 [Study]

Rising sea levels are threatening multiple coastal cities across the United States in the context of climate change. This is according to a new study led by an international team of scientists from the US, the United Kingdom, and India. Based on their findings, US coastal cities are projected to sink into the ocean by the year 2050, wherein the risk of destructive flooding and inundation will increase from now.

The sinking cities along US coasts are only some of the areas around the world at risk of sea level rise. In recent years, research has shown that some island countries, including the Maldives, and low-lying coastal communities can be submerged underwater. Specifically, the impact of melting glaciers due to global warming is causing sea levels to rise, deepening or swallowing coastal territories based on previous empirical evidence.

Sinking US Cities

Researchers from the Department of Geosciences at Virginia Tech National Security Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia, projected that sea level along the US coastlines will rise by 0.25 meters to 0.3 meters by 2050, according to their study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, March 6. The seemingly imminent natural disaster involves a total of 32 US cities, including New York, San Francisco, Boston, New Orleans, and Miami.

In addition, the sinking of US cities could be further affected by coastal subsidence or the sinking of coastal land areas. According to the new research paper, this factor is often overlooked in coastal management policies and long-term urban planning. Furthermore, the authors of the March 2024 scientific assessment estimate that sea level rise threatens 55,000 to 273,000 people and 31,000 to 171,000 properties.

The research team involved in the study arrived at their conclusion by combining high-resolution vertical land motion and elevation datasets. These are accompanied by projects of sea level rise to quantify different areas in 32 major US coastal cities that can be potentially be flooded by ocean water. The assessment of the authors also takes into consideration understanding spatially variable land subsidence as opposed to inaccurate projections.

Rising Sea Levels

Rising sea level is not only an environmental and societal problem in modern times. This phenomenon in recorded history became noticeable more than a century ago. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the absolute sea level (average of the world's oceans) has risen at an average rate of 0.06 inches per year from 1880 to 2013. EPA adds the rate increases from 0.12 to 0.14 inches per year since 1993.

In previous years, the increasing ocean levels have also become a significant topic amongst the world's leaders, organizations, and the United Nations (UN). In 2021, awareness about rising sea levels was exemplified by Tuvalu's foreign minister Simon Kofe, who gave a televised speech during a UN climate conference while standing in seawater (knee-deep) of the Pacific island nation, as shown in videos posted online.