If we want to understand the full picture of climate-fueled flood risk to New York City, we can’t just look at rainfall.
by Arielle Samuelson, Heated
If you read the news or scrolled social media this weekend, you probably heard that New York City experienced record-breaking rainfall and catastrophic flooding on Friday.
You probably heard that LaGuardia Airport shut down a terminal; that subway lines transformed into cesspools; that a whirlpool formed in Brooklyn; that a sea lion escaped its enclosure in the Central Park Zoo.
But what you may not have heard, as I hadn’t before yesterday, is that scientists who study coastal flooding actually consider Friday’s flood to be “mild.” That’s because, while the rainfall itself was record-breaking—more than 8.65 inches fell at JFK airport—the coastal flood level was only two feet above high tide.
That level of flooding is classified as an annual flood, said Kelly Van Baalen, project manager of Climate Central’s sea level rise team. “The numbers on the rainfall are a piece of it, but you would expect coastal flooding of this sort every year,” she said.
Recent Posts
Israel’s War On The World
October 17, 2024
Take Action Now Over the years, the U.S. has partnered with Israel in its attacks on the UN, using its veto in the Security Council 40 times to…
The Curious Case of the Dog and the Abortion Pills
October 17, 2024
Take Action Now How the police and the Postal Service can combine forces to crack down on abortion by mailBy Debbie Nathan, Lux It was a tip that…
Is This Israel’s First Apartheid War?
October 17, 2024
Take Action Now Far from lacking a political strategy, Israel is fighting to reinforce the supremacist project it has built for decades between the…
How Can Democrats Win Back The White Working Class?
October 17, 2024
Take Action Now To become a party based among workers again, Democrats must remember that partisan commitment often grows from local roots.By…