Sea level rise has devastating effects on both the environment and human beings. Some effects include coastal flooding, storm surges, and coastal reef and mangrove destruction. Because of our increase in emitting greenhouse gases, the earth is changing, which comes back to hurt us.
Millions of people live on coasts and many cities are located there, too. This poses a major concern with sea level rise. As the sea level rises, the displaced water floods nearby land, which can be a location that’s highly populated. If coasts flood where people live, those citizens will have to move and live somewhere else. This causes a domino effect because those people will have to find new jobs, new homes, and new cities inland (7). Major cities like Miami and New York will be damaged from flooding, which shuts down many businesses and hurts the economy (7). A rise of about two feet would put over $1 trillion dollars of property in the United States at risk (5). This also means that island nations that have a very low elevation will go underwater (8). For example, the Maldives, which is an island nation in the Indian Ocean with a high point of 8 feet above sea level, will be in jeopardy because of this sea level rise (9). Many tourists visit this destination for vacation, which makes up a good portion of their GDP (9). If the Maldives goes underwater, the 340,000 people living there will have to be relocated, their economy will be damaged, and a beautiful island will disappear (9). Not only will humans be affected, but all the plants and animals living on those islands will be gone, which decreases biodiversity (9). Sea level rise has detrimental effects to these islands nations and coastlines. Usually, the wetlands provide buffer zones for flooding, but since humans have developed on and altered them, it is easier for flooding to take place (8). Development can worsen erosion and damage wetlands. As a result, wetlands don’t receive enough sediment to be buffers for rising sea levels (8). Not only do wetlands provide buffers, but they are also home to many different kinds of species. If coasts are flooded, many animals will be displaced or gone as well and decrease biodiversity similar to what could occur in the Maldives. For example, sea turtles lay their eggs on beaches and without beaches due to flooding and erosion, the sea turtles won’t be able to provide for their young and will eventually go extinct (10). We don’t want to lose these beautiful things because of these ignorant mistakes.
Sea level rise by raising the water level could increase the effects of storms (8). Storms that occur on the coast usually cause storm surges - high winds push water inland such as hurricanes (5). With the sea level rising, the water is higher, which means that it can reach further inland and harm more people and homes (5). These storm surges not only hurt human infrastructure, but they destroy habitats for wildlife and threaten safety and health (8). Storms are a scary subject because they have affected so many people before, such as Hurricane Katrina, and by having more frequent and dangerous ones is terrible thing to face. These storms also contribute to coastal flooding and affect everything that topic affects.
EFFECTS
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by A. Holm