Research co-authored by University of California scientists has found that by 2050, as many as 24,500 affordable housing units in the United States are projected to be exposed to coastal flooding. The estimate is triple the number of housing units at risk only 20 years ago. By 2050, more than 10,000 affordable units nationwide were projected to face repeated flooding four times per year or more. “Flooding can damage buildings and be very disruptive to the residents who live in them; even low levels of flooding can damage belongings, disrupt electrical equipment, and potentially expose residents to contaminated water and mold,” said
Lara Cushing , assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. “Many cities are already struggling with an affordable housing crisis. Our study highlights that climate change will only make this worse unless significant investments are made.”
Climate Change Threatens U.S. Coastal Citiesâ Most Affordable Housing With Flooding
Research co-authored by University of California scientists has found that by 2050, as many as 24,500 affordable housing units in the United States are projected to be exposed to coastal flooding.
Climate Central
Graphic Caption: Future threat of coastal flooding to states, based on projected sea levels for the year 2050 and integrating across local distributions of flooding and sea level rise (SLR), under a high carbon emissions scenario (RCP 8.5).
Newswise LOS ANGELES (Dec. 14, 2020) - Research co-authored by University of California scientists has found that by 2050, as many as 24,500 affordable housing units in the United States are projected to be exposed to coastal flooding.
Environmental Research Letters by scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science, USA and the University of Waterloo, Canada.
The study explores the climate consequences that would emerge should developing countries reach a specific per-capita GDP level before they start to focus their efforts on reducing carbon emissions. Using historical records of CO2 emissions combined with gross domestic product (GDP) and population data from the World Bank, scientists Lei Duan and Ken Caldeira from the Carnegie Institution for Science with Juan Moreno-Cruz from the University of Waterloo, created a wide range of future scenarios in which CO2 emissions increase according to historical trends and then start to decline only when countries reach a specified income level.
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IMAGE: Researchers analyzed eight years of data from 108 sites in the Chesapeake Bay Program s nontidal monitoring network, looking at daily-scale records of flow and corresponding loads of nitrogen, phosphorus and. view more
Credit: Heather Preisendanz research group/Penn State
The vast majority of nutrients and sediment washed into streams flowing into the Chesapeake Bay are picked up by deluges from severe storms that occur on relatively few days of the year. That is the conclusion of a new study led by Penn State researchers, who say it offers clues for cleaning up the impaired estuary. A small percentage of locations and events contribute to the vast majority of total annual pollution loads entering the bay, said Heather Preisendanz, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, College of Agricultural Sciences. These findings stress the importance of concentrating our efforts on hot moments not just hot spots across impaired
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“And the people living in affordable units the disabled, single parents, seniors, people of color have fewer resources to cope with flooding impacts, they tend to have less political influence on where government invests resources on flood mitigation and are less likely to be insured.”
Foster’s Landing apartments, a housing complex that includes low income units, was built across the street from a water access point in Foster City. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters
The analysis used a new Microsoft mapping tool that outlined the footprint of every building in the continental United States. That allowed for a more granular view of where buildings are located and, using sea level rise projections and levee data,