The New York City Panel on Climate Change has released a report that suggests that parts of New York City might witness rising sea levels in coming centuries as a result of increasing climate change.
According to the report, climate change will bring very unpleasant weather conditions that will impact on temperature, precipitation, and rising sea levels among others.
New York City is almost surrounded by water, and the report indicates that by 2100, climate change may induce heat waves and extreme weather temperatures that will cause ice in the Polar region to melt, contributing to rising sea levels that might result to flooding incidents in parts of New York like Staten Island, Queens, and Brooklyn among other beaches and low-lying coastlines.
The rising sea level expected for New York might be as much as 6 feet, and heat waves related to the expected 8.8 degree Fahrenheit temperature would also result from the feared climate change. New York’s flood zone is expected to double, taking in 99 square miles. Precipitation is projected to increase 4% to 11% by 2050, and to 13% by the 2080s.
“Even if storms don’t change at all –just by raising that sea level baseline by five feet, you turn what’s currently a sort of one-in-100-year flood event into something that happens, on average, roughly once every eight years or so,” said Radley Horton of the New York Panel.
However, New York Mayor Bill Blassio is planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from 2005 levels by 2050, and he is also quoted to provide additional sands for beaches in order to manage potential climate crisis. He is also said to plan a budget of $335 million for flood protection in Lower East Side, as well as upgrade shorelines in Coney Island and Staten Island, inclusive of other coastal regions.