Rising Seas, Disruptive Tides, and Risks to Coastal Infrastructure.
Climate change is rapidly worsening tidal flooding, threatening essential and costly coastal infrastructure that millions of people depend on.
Research led by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows that between now and 2050, climate change–driven sea level rise will expose more than 1,600 critical buildings and services to disruptive flooding at least twice per year.
This flooding is a particular threat to public and affordable housing—a burden borne inequitably. More than half the infrastructure at risk by 2050 is in communities at a disadvantage based on historical and ongoing racism, discrimination, and pollution.
How much infrastructure will be in jeopardy late this century will depend heavily on the choices countries make about global heat-trapping emissions. Policymakers and public and private decisionmakers must take immediate, science-based steps to safeguard critical infrastructure and achieve coastal resilience.
read more at ucsusa.org.