Japan might soon have company when it comes to flooded energy facilities. In a new report, Sea Level Rise Threatens Hundreds of US energy facilities, Ben Strauss at Climate Central writes that sea level rise from global warming is well on the way to doubling the risk of coastal floods 4 feet or more over high tide by 2030 at locations nationwide. In the lower 48 states, nearly 300 energy facilities stand on land below that level, including natural gas infrastructure, electric power plants, and oil and gas refineries. Many more facilities are at risk at higher levels, where flooding will become progressively more likely with time as the sea continues to rise. These results come from a Climate Central combined analysis of datasets from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Geological Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency. Apparently, the US senate is starting to take notice. Mostly democratic members of the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the threat of rising sea levels recently, where Strauss and several other US scientists testified about the threat.
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Rising seas threaten hundreds of U.S. energy facilities. Sea level rise is well on the way to doubling the risk of coastal floods 4 feet or more over high tide by 2030 at locations nationwide. In the lower 48 states, nearly 300 energy facilities stand on land below that level, including natural gas infrastructure, electric power plants, and oil and gas refineries. Climate Central
