New Technology Confirms that Floods in New York Are to Become Regular Occurrences by 2090

Superstorm Sandy, in 2012, brought flood levels to the New York region that had not been seen in generations. Causing an estimated $74.1 billion in damages, Sandy was the fourth costliest U.S. storm behind Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and hurricanes Harvey and Maria in 2017. In any given year, a 50-year flood has a 1 in 50 chance of occurring, a 100-year flood a 1 in 100 chance, a 500-year flood a 1 in 500 chance, Hurricane sandy caused a 100 year flood and researchers at the Stevens Institute of Technology have found that 100-year and 500-year flood levels could become regular occurrences for the thousands of homes surrounding Jamaica Bay, New York, by the end of the century. Researches by using satellite technology and lightning observing systems have been able to predict future ocean behavior. Recently scientists have struggled to accomplish this, as climate change has drastically altered ocean behavior. The wave patterns of the 20th century are not even remotely akin to the wave patterns of the 21st century. The framework researches used for this study, for New York coastlines, can be replicated to demonstrate how flooding in other regions of America will look by the end of the century.

This study of Jamaica Bay shows how drastically climate change is shifting our world. As seas levels rise and CO2 is emitted without bound, entire coastlines will continue to be hit harder and more frequently by hurricanes and tsunamis.