Recent years, a trend has emerged in American citizens moving to coastal regions. In 2010, 39 percent of Americans lived in a coastal county. An additional 10 million Americans are expected to live on the coast by the year 2020. In the next several decades, the majority of the American population is predicted to be living in coastal states and cities that are vulnerable to changes in sea level.
Global sea level naturally changes over very long periods of time with different cycles of the Earth. The last time a major natural sea level change occurred was when sea levels rose following the last Ice Age, finally becoming steady about 2,500 years ago. Now, strong evidence shows sea levels started slowly rising again during the 1900s after remaining fairly steady during the previous 2000 years.
Current rising sea level trends are associated with thermal expansion of water and the melting of freshwater glaciers and permafrost in regions like Greenland and Antarctica. Melting polar ice caps and other freshwater glaciers are caused human-induced global warming.
Coastal South Carolina is not rapidly preparing for these impacts and its coastal structures are not designed to withstand the changes that sea-level rise can bring. There are places around the world that are acting quickly to prepare for such changes. Almost one-half of the Netherlands is below sea level; it is imperative they prepare in a timely manner. Recently, there has been a push to develop neighborhoods that float on water in this country. They are designed to change with water height as a sustainable solution to sea-level rise. Floating houses may not be the answer for South Carolina but beginning to prepare in a sustainable way is becoming more and more important.
Virtual tour of predicted sea level rise around the world: SC v. Netherlands
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