American South sea levels from Texas to North Carolina rising TWICE as fast as rest of the world – threatening to flood your favorite vacation spots
Cities, towns and vacation destinations across the American South are “drowning” under rapidly rising tides, which could soon see them inundated.
Ocean levels are at least six inches higher than they were a decade ago in parts of the country from Texas to North Carolina. An overall rising ocean is accompanied by vicious tidal events that wreak havoc and kill local populations, especially when they coincide with storms.
The problem is already affecting thousands of Americans living along the coast, and millions more in the US will experience it in the coming decades.
Climate change is causing sea levels to rise steadily around the world, but the Gulf of Mexico is rising faster than anywhere else on earth.
“It’s irreversible,” said Jianjun Yin, a climate scientist at the University of Arizona WashingtonPost.
Cities, towns and vacation destinations across the American South are “drowning” under rapidly rising tides, which could soon see them inundated. Pictured: An $18 million waterfront mansion in Hilton Head, South Carolina
Scientists are perplexed as to why the region has been so badly affected, while few other areas – such as the North Sea near Britain – have seen a comparable increase.
An analysis of the After found that sea levels in the Gulf are rising twice as fast as the global average, and accelerating dramatically.
The average sea level in Charleston, South Carolina, has risen 12 inches since 2010, which is twice the amount in the previous thirty years.
Georgia’s Tybee Island rose 3.7 inches from 1980 to 2009, then 7.3 inches from 2010 to 2023, and Wilmington, North Carolina, rose 2.7 inches and then 7 inches over the same time period.
Galveston, Texas, was hit hardest in the Post’s study, jumping 9 inches (23.5 centimeters) over the past fourteen years, which experts say was exacerbated by sinking land.
A $5 million mansion in Spring Hill, Florida. In many coastal cities, sea levels have risen dramatically since 2010
Scientists are perplexed as to why the region has been so badly affected. Pictured: An $8 million home in Destin, Florida
A $4.6 million home sits on the water in Gulf Shores, Alabama. Experts say rising sea levels are irreversible
High tides have flooded the area at least 141 times since 2015 and are expected to occur much more frequently in the near future.
Local officials in Galveston plan to install water pumps, costing $60 million each, to alleviate the problem and can only pay for it with federal grants.
Other huge increases since 2010 included Mobile, Alabama, up 7 inches, Miami and Daytona Beach, Florida, both up 6 inches, Savannah, Georgia, up 7 inches, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, up 7 inches – all since 2010.
Jacksonville, Florida, rose 6 inches and predicted that a quarter of major roads could become inaccessible to emergency vehicles during flooding, and that the number of residents at risk could soon triple.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana, the wetlands that protect the state from storms are “drowning,” clogged septic systems threaten to pollute the water, and insurance companies are reducing their policies or refusing to offer them at all.
An aerial view of destroyed beachfront homes in the aftermath of Hurricane Nicole in Daytona Beach, Florida
Climate scientists warn that the increases are irreversible, even if they stop getting worse as quickly – which was less likely
Ormond Beach, Florida, is one of the beautiful beach locations at risk from rising tides
Climate scientists warn that the increases are irreversible, even if they stop getting worse as quickly – which was less likely.
“While it is possible that rapid sea level rise will eventually slow, the higher water that has already arrived in recent years will remain,” University of Arizona scientist Jianjun Yin told the paper.
Others, like Western Carolina University professor Rob Young, worry that all the money spent on dealing with hurricanes is “preparing for the wrong disaster.”
“These smaller changes over time will pose a bigger threat than the next hurricane, there’s no doubt about it,” he said.
William Sweet, an oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, warned that the flooding observed so far would be nothing compared to what will happen.
He expected tidal flooding to occur fifteen times more often in 2050 than in 2020.