feet (1.5 meters) above MSL. The authors
also mapped the lands between 1.5 and
3.5 meters (12 feet) above MSL to show
potential flooded areas during the next
two or three centuries.
Under the 1.5-meter scenario involving potential flooding over the next century, Louisiana will be the largest loser, as
9,546 square miles (24,725 sq. km) of
coastal lowlands will be affected. Florida
is second with 4,730 square miles (12,251
sq. km.). North Carolina is third with
2,253 square miles (5,836 sq. km.). Fourth
is Texas with 1,999 square miles (5,178 sq.
km). South Carolina will lose 901 square
miles (2,334 sq. km), while Georgia, Maryland and New Jersey will each lose more
than 386 square miles (1,000 sq. km.).
Except for coves, marshes and immediate coastal areas, most of New England’s
Field research has shown that virtucoastline will be spared because of its
ally all of the world’s glaciers are melting.
relatively steep shorelines. New York’s
If present glacial melting trends continue,
Long Island will experience inundation
predictions indicate that world sea levels
of both its Long Island Sound marshes
will rise two feet (60 cm.) in the next 100
and its barrier islands.
years.
The southern New Jersey coast and
Such radical rises in sea level particuaround Delaware Bay is predicted to have
larly will affect countries with large terrimajor losses within the coastal zone, as is
tories near sea level. Although two feet
the east side of Chesapeake Bay in Maryseems a relatively small change in sea
land. Low coastal plain lands
level, it can cause radical shoreMore Than Just a High Tide
bordering North Carolina’s
line changes, as barrier islands
sounds will take a major loss, as
erode and retreat landward.
will its barrier islands. Coastal
Lowlands around river deltas
lowlands of South Carolina and
and coastal mangroves and
Georgia with their rich coastal
marshlands will be inundated.
marshlands will be deeply afExamples of potentially
fected.
hard-hit countries worldwide
South Florida’s Everglades
include many of the Pacific Ocean
will be extremely hard hit, as
island countries, the lowlands
will southern Louisiana’s delta
and polders of the Netherlands,
country, including New Orleans
and the delta lands of
Innundation Risk Area
due to Sea Level Rise,
itself. Marshlands along the
Bangladesh. Coral atolls of the
up to 3 Meters
north Texas coast will also be
South Pacific are low island rings
Source: EPA website, 8/00
Climate Research, 2000
seriously impacted.
surrounding a central lagoon.
0
400 km
Assuming an unchanged
With little soil and little, if any,
Atlantic
0
400 mi
warming trend, sea level rise is
ground water, these islands may
Ocean
inevitable. The Climate Research
lose 50 percent or more of their
article provides a valuable serlandmasses with the century’s
vice to coastal planning. Sciensea level rise.
tists disagree somewhat on the
Particularly vulnerable are
rate of sea level rise, but virtuthe polders of the Netherlands.
ally all acknowledge its present
Reclaimed from the sea floor
occurrence. Understanding its
through the use of dikes and
Gulf of
Mexico
potential impacts and spatial dipumps, these below-sea level armensions is important in estabeas represent 40 percent of the
Geography in the News, 09/08/00
©2000 maps.com
lishing future strategies involvNetherlands’ total territory and
ing long-term coastal developmore than two-thirds of its agriment, use and conservation.
thors’ based their rationale on the fact that
cultural land. Keeping the ocean at bay
And that is Geography in the News.
the highest tide of each month (spring
will be a monumental task during the
September 8, 2000. #536.
tide) can be two feet or more above mean
next century.
sea level (MSL). Added to the expected
Bangladesh has perhaps the largest
(The author is a Professor of Geography
sea level rise, the total approaches five
population potentially affected by the
at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.)
U.S. COASTS
VULNERABLE TO
SEA LEVEL RISE
century’s sea level rise. Located on the
Brahmaputra River delta at the head of
the Bay of Bengal, 17 million Bangladeshis
live at less than five feet (1.5 m.) above
mean sea level. As much as a fourth of the
country already endures extensive flooding most years, particularly when cyclones
roar in from the Bay of Bengal.
Recent research shows that the
United States may have 22,254 square
miles (57,639 sq. km.) of coastal lowlands
that are vulnerable to the coming century’s
sea level rise, according to a soon-to-appear article in Climate Research (2000).
Detailed maps on the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency web site show the potential geographical dimensions of sea
level rise (http://www.epa.gov/
globalwarming/visitorcenter/coastal/
index.html).
James G. Titus and Charlie Richman
mapped lands vulnerable to sea level rise
along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts.
They used the USGS 1-degree digital elevation series and NOAA shoreline data
to map land below the 1.5- and up to the
3.5-meter contours. Although the 1.5meter (5 feet) contour is higher than the
predicted 2-foot sea level rise, the au-
© 2000 maps.com