Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Maps of San Diego coast show sea level rise projections by 2050

Khari Johnson in the Imperial Beach Patch (California): The San Diego Foundation put together a study published in 2008 that predicts local sea levels could rise 12 to 18 inches by 2050 due to climate change. Rick Gersberg from San Diego State University put together the maps and was one of more than 40 local university professors, non-profit organizations and public and private-sector entities who helped complete the Focus 2050 study.

"We had maps made because they didn't exist before," said Dr. Emily Young from the San Diego Foundation, who helped put together the report. New maps due out later this year will be part of the first California-specific sea level rise assessment report.

Put together by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, the report will detail various scenarios of sea water rise in California in 2030, 2050 and 2100. "Now the state has become much more involved in this area so we can do more detailed maps in areas including Imperial Beach and San Diego," Young said. "This is going to be the authoritative assessment for the state of California for everyone to use."

According to the foundation's data and maps, sea level will rise the same amount from the U.S.-Mexico border to north San Diego, she said, but its impact depends on the area's elevation and geographic makeup….

View of Coronado and San Diego from the air, shot by Doug Letterman at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dougletterman/, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

No comments: