New research showed that rising sea levels could have catastrophic impacts on one of the United States' most populous regions — but also that smart response strategies could mitigate that risk.
What's happening?
Coastal communities worldwide face a risk from rising sea levels. In the United States, there may be no more well-known and complex coastal region than the San Francisco Bay, making it a prime subject for scientists, such as Patrick Barnard.
A coastal-climate research director at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Barnard recently published another study on the Bay Area in the Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering.
As Phys.org reported, Barnard's previous research found that "over 400,000 residents and $150 billion in property could be exposed to flooding this century … accounting for two-thirds of the coastal flood risk for California."
While that threat still looms, Barnard's new study found that, by combining several flood-mitigation strategies, such as restoring wetlands and adding flood gates, the region could help keep some of its cities and residents safe.
Why are rising sea levels important?
As humans burn more dirty energy and pump more heat-trapping pollution into the atmosphere, global temperatures climb higher and higher. 2024 was the warmest year in recorded history, and experts expect that record to be broken again soon.
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Among the many consequences of that, ocean water warms and expands, and glaciers melt, causing global sea levels to rise. In 2024, ocean levels rose by nearly a quarter of an inch, and the rate at which they rise has more than doubled over the past 30 years.
If this continues, scientists warn, sea levels could eventually rise by several feet, which would put many coastal communities at risk of being completely underwater.
The Bay Area could be in particular danger. The region's low-lying nature makes it particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise, as does the population. More than 100 cities border the bay, including San Francisco and Oakland.
What's being done about sea-level rise?
Although Barnard's work pointed out the risks this metro area faces, it also highlighted what work can be done to help mitigate those risks.
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Definitely 👍 His modeling showed that restoring wetlands, for example, could lower water levels by nearly eight inches in certain areas, and flood gates can also lower water levels in an unobtrusive way.
By combining several methods, he found the flood risk could be lowered by as much as three to five feet. To counteract flooding past that level, his latest study stated, large-scale efforts must be undertaken to limit pollution, reverse warming temperatures, and keep sea levels from climbing even higher.
"It is a major challenge," Barnard told Phys.org, "but representative of the kind of challenges we have worldwide where no one can act in isolation and fix the problem for themselves."
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