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STATEN ISLAND, NY – If sea level rise weren’t enough to worry about, NASA scientists say an “oscillation” in the moon’s orbit could mean some of the highest tides seen for decades.
Scientists from the University of Hawaii’s NASA Sea Level Change Science Team led the new study and found that high tides in the mid-2030s would exceed flood thresholds more often. known in the country.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said they hoped to share their findings to help better prepare for and prevent damage to the environment and to the livelihoods of those affected by the flooding.
“Low areas near sea level are increasingly threatened and suffering due to increased flooding, and this will only get worse,” Nelson said. “The combination of the moon’s gravitational pull, rising sea levels and climate change will continue to exacerbate coastal flooding on our coasts and around the world.”
Additionally, the flooding could last a month or more and be as frequent as every day or two, depending on the position of the moon, earth and sun, according to NASA.
Phil Thompson, assistant professor at the University of Hawaii and lead author of the new study, published this month in Nature Climate Change, noted that flooding at high tide often results in less severe flooding than coastal storm surges. , but that the repeated impact could have the greatest effect.
“It is the effect accumulated over time that will have an impact,” he said. “But if it floods 10 or 15 times a month, a business cannot continue to operate with its parking lot underwater. People are losing their jobs because they cannot get to work. Weeping sumps are becoming a public health problem.
In June, city officials released maps as part of a city’s stormwater resilience program that show where high tides could wash over the next few decades. Maps showed that coastal parts of Staten Island could face frequent coastal flooding.
The Stormwater Resilience Plan, announced in May, is a 10-year project designed to help New Yorkers prepare for flooding, and the city’s plan for emergency response and long-term management, according to the mayor’s office.
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