NASA discovers potential effects of sea level rise for Northern California
Tidal flooding is not currently a regular issue for the California coast, but scientists say it could be by the end of this century. A new “Flooding Analysis Tool” produced by scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory shows that in the coming decades, the number of days with tidal flooding will likely increase for all locations mapped around the United States. That increase in high tide flooding is directly linked to global sea level rise, spurred on by climate change. “There are things that cause sea level to rise and we know those things quite well,” said Dr. Ben Hamlington, who is one of the research scientists contributing to the flooding analysis tool at JPL. “On global scales we know that melting ice contributes to rising sea levels” Hamlington says the challenge is communicating how local factors will affect the severity of the impacts of sea level rise.