Sea Level Rise In Tidewater Va

There are many areas in Tampa that will be unfortunately underwater. As we saw with the heavy rains in late 2015, the most vital areas such as Westshore Ave, South Tampa, Bayshore Ave, and even Downtown had major flooding causing delays in traffic and safety anxieties. While the flooding only lasted a few days, the event brought attention to the Tampa’s faulty infrastructure and drainage systems. An alarming thought is how Tampa will be able to protect itself from a storm or the rising sea levels if the drainage systems are inadequate. The Tampa Bay area is due for a natural disaster any day now; the coastal area is highly vulnerable. According to Sara Kerr, “One place that we have to look carefully at is Tampa where there is a huge concentration at risk from a storm surge, but there hasn’t been an event for 150 years and so the city is fairly complacent about its risk” (2015). A possible catastrophe can pose as an environmental challenge in Tampa Bay as the highly populous areas will not be able to withstand rising sea levels that will occur.

Rising sea level can be caused by a variety of factors and can have an effect or influence even more. Future changes in sea level may impact human populations around the world and many other aspects of life on Earth more than many initially thought. The U.S. coast of the Gulf of Mexico is on track to be one of the most impacted by further sea level rise and the outcome could be detrimental to the entire coastline.

People living in Miami are in the face of danger, and for the most part they are not aware of it. Due to high population, Miami is the fourth largest city to become affected by sea level rise. (Ankum et al.) In the next 32-50 years, sea level is expected to rise by as much as two feet. (Ankum et al.) This two-foot rise will have detrimental effects on the urban settings of Miami. The amount of soil erosion that is undergoing at our beaches will greatly increase if a two-foot rise occurs. At a four-foot rise, road connectivity would begin to become affected. At a six-foot rise, Southern Florida would no longer be habitable as it would, for the most part, be underwater. Not much is being invested in mitigation efforts, most of what is being done are short term solutions. Instead of coming up with ideas to prevent and try to slow down the effects of climate change on our environment, we are focusing on ideas such as building up a sea wall, relocating power plants, and redesigning structures.

Since 1880, records show that the sea level has bone up 8 inches. If it goes up six more inches, as the current studies indicate could happen within 20 years, South Florida’s flood control would be devastated. In South Florida, taxpayers are already paying the price for climate change as salt-water pushes through porous bedrock into coastal drinking-water supplies, and rivers and canals choked by heavy rains have a harder time draining into the ocean.

Many communities are suffering due to coastal erosion. One example is the village of Cocodrie, LA in Terrebonne Parish. This village’s small population and its 220 residential and commercial buildings are surrounded by marshes. In Cocodrie, there is no barrier against hurricanes. Local marinas play host to recreational and commercial fishing, and The Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium is located in Cocodrie. This facility of around 100,000 square ft houses laboratories, classrooms, and a research center. Infrastructure that will be affected by coastal erosion includes paved highway, dirt roads, a bridge, water supply systems, and natural gas lines. By 2050, Cocodrie will be surrounded by open water as the marshlands around the village give way to rising sea levels. Another community affected by this issue is Yscloskey, LA in St. Bernard Parish. The most important part of the economy here is fishing, and highways link the parish to New Orleans fishing communities. The Yscloskey area lies outside of the protective levees and is quite vulnerable to storms. Though losses in Yscloskey are not predicted to be as great as those in Cocodrie, a 16 percent loss by 2050 leaves the infrastructure of Yscloskey even more vulnerable (Coast 2050, 1998, p. 64-66). Local residents in these areas are watching the land disappear along with the beachfronts and Cyprus swamps that were on that land (Marshall, 2014).

Reports revealed that by 2080s, the projected flood heights for locations in Connecticut (e.g., Norwalk, Westport, Bridgeport, Greenwich Cove, Shippan Point, Stamford, and Stratford) could range from 11.5 to 13 feet for a Category 1 hurricane, and 14.5 to 15.7 feet for a Category 3 storm (Gornitz et al., 2004). Therefore, rising sea level could account for 18-22% of the increase in flood height (in the high sea-level rise scenario) or 6-8% in the lower case (Gornitz et al., 2004). With the rising sea level, floods generated by storms of this magnitude could approach 18 feet by the 2080s (Gornitz et al., 2004). The increase in the projected flood level cities in Connecticut will be greatly affected such as Bridgeport and New Haven. As an illustration, a significant portion of both Bridgeport and New Haven lies within the high-risk flood zone, and during severe storms this place a large population, private property, and infrastructure at high risk. In New Haven, some infrastructures that are at risk include the New Haven railroad station and track yards, the Tweed-New Haven Airport, ramps to the Connecticut

In January of 2008, Homeland Security gave UNC a multi-million dollar grant to study natural disasters in coastal areas (Homeland security, 2008). Due to this grant, and the efforts made on Carolina’s behalf, emergency managers were able to have the latest scientific information to protect our coastlines and citizens. Carolina also used the grant to collaborate with other universities and agencies to conduct research. The outline of the grant was to provide UNC with about $2.5 million per year for six years, with the possibility for more, as the research developed. “[The grant] will help protect our homes, our businesses, our environment and

Miami, Florida experiences a great amount of natural disasters; however, one of the largest disasters Miami fears is affects of global change. Rising global temperatures scares most environmentalist in the Miami area, because rising temperatures results in rising sea levels. So, what is the problem with rising sea levels? Well, environmental specialist has made predictions that the rising sea levels could submerge the beaches of Miami.

The changes to the coastline have affected the sustainability of the region. The loss of wetlands and other natural barriers have eliminated protection from higher and faster moving storm surges. New Orleans and other regions of the Louisiana deltaic plane could not be protected without proper account of the tremendous change that occurred to Louisiana's coastal landscape (IPET).

It is inevitable that the coast is sinking due to rising sea levels and sediment erosion caused by storms or nature. With that in mind it is imperative that lessons learned from previous encountered storms and floods should move engineers to redesign entirely a new format of construction of the levees, as well as aid in saving as much of the coast that can be recovered and cut the losses of area now under sea level. After Katrina much effort was focused on quickly recovering the locations that were in dire need of rescue. Sandbags were placed in several locations and in others pumps were used to redirect flooding and allow for immediate repair of the levees. Following Katrina eight years after, at least $14.5 billion was invested in a storm protection system that consisted of high-quality built levees, floodwalls, and efficient pumps for drainage. In 2012, Hurricane Issac would be the test to see if all would stay intact and perform as designed, and it did. Both the State of Louisiana and the United States Army Corps of Engineers recognized that the new system was holding well, however it did not eliminate the risk. Therefore, the State of Louisiana and the United States Corp of Engineers initiated work under way in strategizing for future risk reduction efforts for both the levees and restoration of the coast. As a result of their initiated work, the State of Louisiana’s 2012 Coastal Master

Most people wouldn’t pay any mind to care about coastal resilience and the sea-level rise in the Tidewater area of Virginia. However, they are very important to the community and its development. In the past I was one of those people as well until I knew how much the Tidewater area could be affected by an extreme weather storm or pipe malfunction. Growing up in Virginia Beach I've always questioned why the houses in Virginia didn’t have basements. Because Virginia's elevation is approximately 5,729 feet, the average elevation is 12 feet above sea level, it's considered below sea level. The Tidewater area in Virginia is known for flooding when there are rain storms or other serious weather conditions as well. This is not only because of Virginia's elevation level, but also because of the sewage and waste system.

As we’re trying to move from relief to recovery and rebuilding, it’s nearly imperative that we look back to unveil why this widespread flooding occurred in the first place. If we trace back to the research of engineers in the 1990’s, it was recorded that the reservoir system was inadequate and endangered thousands of lives and properties (Thompson). Arthur Storey, Harris County’s Flood Director in 1996, coins the wreckage that lies before us as “a massive governmental and engineering failure” (Thompson). Research suggests that we foresaw the potential damage, yet failed to invest in modern development

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, almost 40% of the population lives in high population-dense coastal areas. Around the world, eight of the world’s ten largest cities are situated near a coast, with about 250 million people living by a coast line less than 5 feet above sea level. It is projected that all of these people will be directly affected in some way by seawater rising in the future (Siegert, 2017). For the county of Orleans Parish, the rapid loss of coastal land is not a future scenario, but a current reality. Due to our unique geography, Louisiana loses about 16 square miles a year; the rapid erosion of Louisiana’s cost is only expected to accelerate over time. (Wernick, 2014).

The overview of vulnerabilities isn’t fully addressed, the climate change is resulting in significant impacts to Massachusetts coastline and ocean waters. The coast is modestly changing in temperature having an impact on sensitive ecosystems, threatening biodiversity and ecosystem-based economies, based off fisheries, tourism, and recreation. Sea level will impact development, infrastructure and natural systems from erosion and storm damage. Impacts may also include loss of life, extensive property damage, destruction of public infrastructure; releasing of sewage, oil,debris, and other contaminants; and loss of commercial and marine-related businesses critical to local,regional, and state economies. Also, areas such as coastal salt marshes,barrier

Decades of research suggest that sea-levels are rising, and will continue to rise as a result of climate change. This rise will have the most immediate and significant impact on