20 Fastest-Sinking Beach Cities Due to Rising Sea Levels, 2 in the U.S.

Regardless of where you stand on what’s causing global sea levels to rise, it’s undeniable that our coastlines are getting smaller. A study using data from the European Commission suggests that by 2100, we could lose nearly half of the world’s sandy beaches to rising sea levels.

That said, not all coastlines are shrinking at the same rate. Unfortunately for Americans, two beloved U.S. beach spots are among the top 20 beachside cities in the world that will likely shrink the most by 2100.

Measuring Shrinking Coasts

Hawaiian Islands determined the world’s tourist beaches that will lose the most sandy area by using European Commission’s data, which estimates global shoreline changes that’ll happen by 2100.

To narrow down their data to tourist beaches, Hawaiian Islands selected the top ten beaches in each country with the most reviews. They then calculated the average decrease or increase of all the beaches, arriving at the following rankings.

Although Hawaiian Islands calculated their data using the number of meters of shoreline shrinkage by 2100, we converted them to the nearest feet (ft).

Rising Tides

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, global sea levels have been increasing over the past 100 years.

What troubles many scientists is the fact that the rate of rising sea levels has increased in recent years. As of right now, sea levels are rising at a rate of approximately one-eighth of an inch each year.

A warmer environment is the leading cause of increased sea levels. Researchers state that the two primary causes of this include the water that’s already in the ocean expanding (since water expands as it gets warmer) and the melting of land-based ice.

Threat of Higher Sea Levels

Numerous issues are already stemming from higher sea levels, and experts worry about the future of coastal towns and cities. Rising sea levels threaten coastal infrastructure, subways, oil and gas wells, and landfills, to name a few.

Furthermore, “nuisance flooding” is common in areas that are already feeling the negative effects of increased sea levels. This type of flooding occurs during high tide. While nuisance flooding isn’t typically dangerous for people living along the coast, it can be incredibly disruptive and expensive to maintain, repair, or move infrastructure that ultra-high tides reach.

Another way that higher sea levels can negatively impact coastal areas is by making an area ripe for more damaging storm surges. In this case, storm surge water reaches further inland than it did in the past.

Expedited Rising

In some cases, populations along the coast have inadvertently sped up the process of the sea level rising faster than average in their local area. Some of the human-driven things that can cause sea levels to increase at an expedited rate include:

• Groundwater pumping
• Oil extraction
• Heavy buildings

Such practices cause soil compaction and erosion, literally sinking cities into the earth.

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