ASA in the News

Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com) - September 11, 2009

New York City Braces for Risk of Higher Seas

---

ASA provides flooding and inundation models to WSJ's Robert Lee Hotz reporting on how a possible rise in sea levels is putting New York at risk and what engineers are proposing to protect the populous city.

By Robert Lee Hotz, Multimedia Producer: Christina Jeng, Wall Street Journal, Science Journal

When major ice sheets thaw, they release enough fresh water to disrupt ocean currents world-wide and make the planet wobble with the uneven weight of so much meltwater on the move. Studying these effects more closely, scientists are discovering local variations in rising sea levels -- and some signs pointing to higher seas around metropolitan New York.

Sea level may rise faster near New York than at most other densely populated ports due to local effects of gravity, water density and ocean currents, according to four new forecasts of melting ice sheets. The forecasts are the work of international research teams and ASA has done extensive work creating flooding and inundation models of coastal cities around the world.

Guided by a panel of city-appointed climate experts from NASA and Columbia University, a report predicts that by 2080 New York will have the climate Raleigh, N.C., has today. By their estimate, it will be about seven degrees Fahrenheit warmer and sea level may be two feet higher, unless polar ice sheets do melt. But such forecasts can be overtaken by new data. "You have to continually update plans as the models get better and the knowledge gets better and the unknowns become known."

» Click here to read the full story on WSJ.com

» Click here to watch the video on WSJ.com or watch below.