Nature Climate Change - Study Projects 300X Increase In Violent Storms, Floods Along E. Coast, Gulf

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Sea-level rise along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts combined with more frequent and violent storms could increase flooding from the Northeast to Texas by several-hundredfold, according to a new study out Monday.

Over the past century, the East Coast has seen sea-level rise far above the 8-inch global average - up to a foot in much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, including New York City. It is expected to increase as much as four feet by 2100, mostly due to the melting ice sheets as well as the expansion of the seawater as the oceans warm.

At the same time, several studies have suggest the North Atlantic could see more intense storms, since warmer warmers (Ed. - sic - "waters&quot contain more energy. "When you look at hazards separately, it's bad enough, but when you consider the joint effects of two hazards together, you can get some surprises," said Radley Horton, a climate scientist at Columbia University's Earth Institute and study coauthor. "Sometimes, 1 plus 1 can equal 3."

The two factors have in the past mostly been considered independently. But this study, published in Nature Climate Change Monday, scientists from Columbia, Princeton, Rutgers and several other institutions for the first time looked at them together.

EDIT

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/floods-may-increase-300-fold-on-atlantic-gulf-coasts/