Extreme Weather Toolkit: Coastal Flooding

Picturing Our Future

The frequency of coastal floods has risen sharply in recent decades. Rising sea levels due to human-caused warming will continue to increase both tidal flooding and flooding from extreme weather events in the years ahead.

Globally, sea levels have risen about seven inches since the beginning of the 20th century  due to melting glaciers and ice sheets and the expansion of seawater as the oceans warm. This heightened level of water is increasing the number of coastal floods during regular high tides and during coastal storms, whether those storms are tropical systems or non-tropical systems such as Nor’easters. About 30% of the U.S. population lives in coastal counties.

Updated: July 2023

Resources

These resources explore the science, trends, and local impacts of coastal flooding and sea level rise

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