There were 600 floods from high tides in the US in 2019, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That number is expected to increase by several times into the 2030s, according to the study, which was published in the Nature Climate magazine. The flooding is projected to occur in clusters that could last for a month or longer.
While the high tide flooding in question involves less water and is often considered less damaging than floods caused by hurricane surges, “it’s the accumulated effect over time that will have an impact”, Phil Thompson, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii and lead author of the study, said in a statement.
The Moon is currently in the amplification half of its cycle, already causing increased flooding along many coasts, a result of high sea levels caused by climate change, according to NASA.
Another decade of rising sea levels will have severe consequences when the Moon is again in the amplification half of its cycle, the researchers found, resulting in a surge in flooding on all US mainland coastlines, Hawaii and Guam and sparing only far north coastlines like Alaska.
Researchers studied 89 tide gauge locations in coastal regions across US states and territories, astronomical cycles and the likelihood of tide-affecting phenomena to make the projections, which stretch to 2080.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, in a statement, said the research is crucial to allow coastal areas to prep
“NASA’s Sea Level Change Team is providing crucial information so that we can plan, protect, and prevent damage to the environment and people’s livelihoods affected by flooding.”
