Planning Panel - New York Needs To Start To Prepare Now For Permanent Flooding
Without additional protection measures, 1 foot of sea-level rise will inundate nearly 60 square miles of the tri-state region. That's about 19,000 people in 10,000 homes, in places where about 10,000 people work. It could happen as soon as 2050 if emissions aren't curtailed, the report found. In New York City, for example, much of the city's coastline is hardened. But there would be several areas of major vulnerability: Jamaica Bay, Flushing Bay and the eastern shore of Staten Island.
In New Jersey, the communities of Moonachie and Secaucus, as well as Teterboro Airport, face inundation at 1 foot of sea-level rise. As many as 3,000 people around Barnegat Bay and Toms River live in places that could be inundated with 1 foot of water near the New Jersey shore. "With sea-level rise, over time, water will keep coming and coming and coming, and it won't go away," Freudenberg said. "So we're going to be living, in parts of our region, with permanent flooding without even getting a storm."
The report notes that over time, the region's airports are among the infrastructure most threatened by sea-level rise. So, too, are rail lines that service much of the East Coast.
But the region can't wall off its 3,700-mile coast from the sea, the report said. Nor can it retreat from every future flood zone. "We have to start thinking about a future where we're going to have to make decisions about where we can invest limited funds to protect, and where we can invest limited funds to retreat," he said.
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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-greater-new-york-city-region-must-plan-for-permanent-flooding/