{"id":13927,"date":"2026-06-10T19:03:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T19:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13927"},"modified":"2026-06-10T19:03:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T19:03:09","slug":"human-driven-sea-level-rise-has-increased-frequency-of-extreme-coastal-flooding-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13927","title":{"rendered":"Human-driven sea-level rise has increased frequency of extreme coastal flooding, study says"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ALEXA ST. JOHN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Human-driven sea level rise has increased how often extreme coastal flooding occurs around the world, according to a study released Wednesday.<\/p>

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Experts say the findings are crucial for coastal infrastructure and flood planning as the planet warms.<\/p>\n

Extreme flooding events are caused by a combination of storm surges, high tides and unusual sea level rise alongside natural climate patterns and human influence. Hurricane Ian in 2022, which caused significant flooding, is an example of a hurricane that scientists said was strengthened by climate change. Coastal flooding threatens hundreds of millions of people living in low-lying coastal areas across the globe each year, causes billions of dollars in damage and can be deadly.<\/p>\n

Extreme sea level events that were once historically rare \u2014 those with a 1% chance of happening in a given year \u2014 are now, on average, about 12 times more likely, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on Wednesday. Those events have become about four times more likely due to human-driven climate change, the research shows.<\/p>\n

The researchers examined the frequency of extreme sea level events \u2014 which are the drivers of coastal flooding \u2014 by considering long-term records from tide gauges at more than 100 sites alongside climate modeling. The study looked at the increase from 1900 to 2005. It was limited through 2005 due to the availability of models that attribute instances to human-driven climate change. The authors acknowledged the results were conservative, given that human contributions to changes in coastal extremes have only increased since then.<\/p>\n

The experts separated the influence of human activity, natural forces and local land movement. While sea level changes earlier in the 20th century could largely be attributed to natural forces, since the 1960s, it\u2019s human-caused warming that\u2019s the primary factor behind rising sea levels, scientists say.<\/p>\n

A separate study published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday also supports the notion that human-caused climate change is responsible for extreme water levels. It found climate change at the root of 58% of the days with extreme water levels during a period from 2000 to 2018. Climate change has also, on average, nearly tripled the number of days exceeding extreme water level thresholds since the 1970s, according to that study.<\/p>

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\u201cEssentially every coastal flood today has human fingerprints on it through climate change,\u201d said Ben Strauss, chief scientist at Climate Central and a co-author of the Science Advances study. \u201cWithout the extra bit of sea level rise caused by global heating, most of these events would not have reached the status of flood.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research in Nature Climate Change didn\u2019t fully examine individual human factors, said S\u00f6nke Dangendorf, the lead author, but he noted greenhouse gases \u2014 the result of burning fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal \u2014 are the most significant.<\/p>

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\u201cIn particular since the 1970s, it\u2019s by far the dominating factor, and this is of course not good news at the moment,\u201d said Dangendorf, also an associate professor at Tulane University. \u201cThe risk is evolving and with the evolving risk we need to do more for adaptation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Williams, a retired United States Geological Survey oceanographer who wasn\u2019t part of either study, said the research shows that planners need to take into account the increased risks. They should also consider what it will cost to increase coastal protection and determine who pays for it, he said.<\/p>

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