The US States of Sea Level Change - 3

Fig. 1 Washington Post

The appendix in today's post (APNDX States SLC) contains graphs of US states that have PSMSL tide gauge station records.

It is a follow up to the previous posts in this series (The US States of Sea Level Change, 2).

Each post contains different types of presentations of these state sea level records (e.g. limited graphs in the first post, both HTML tables and graphs int the second post).

In today's appendix there is one graph per state containing the charts of all tide gauge sea level lines for that state.

The data is the same in all cases, yet when we have different perspectives of that same data it can enhance our understanding.

The ocean is not a constant because acceleration is being observed:

"In December, Charleston, S.C., saw its fourth-highest water level since measurements began in 1899. It was the first time on record that seas had been that high without a hurricane. A winter storm that coincided with the elevated ocean left dozens of streets closed. One resident drowned in her car. Hundreds of vehicles were damaged or destroyed, including some that were inundated in a cruise terminal parking lot.

The average sea level at Charleston has risen by 7 inches since 2010, four times the rate of the previous 30 years.

Jacksonville, Fla., where seas rose 6 inches in the past 14 years, recently studied its vulnerability. It found that more than a quarter of major roads have the potential to become inaccessible to emergency response vehicles amid flooding, and the number of residents who face flood risks could more than triple in coming decades.

Galveston, Tex., has experienced an extraordinary rate of sea level rise — 8 inches in 14 years. Experts say it has been exacerbated by fast-sinking land. High-tide floods have struck at least 141 times since 2015, and scientists project their frequency will grow rapidly. Officials are planning to install several huge pump stations in coming years, largely funded through federal grants. The city manager expects each pump to cost more than $60 million — a figure that could eclipse the city’s annual tax revenue."

(Washington Post). "What if" acceleration scenarios have been examined here on Dredd Blog for some time now (The Question Is: How Much Acceleration Is Involved In SLR? - 2).

The previous post in this series is here.