King Tides and High Water

Coastal Flooding the New Normal

In ME II we have been studying the effects of storm surge flooding and have been graphing predicted and observed tides to see how hurricanes can flood our region.  Hurricanes are more acute phenomena that we really don't face too often.  The tide, however, is a relentless daily force that is a chronic stressor on coastal communities especially in our region with anomolously high sea level rise rates.  The current news is all about so-called "King Tides", which are the result of the superposition of multiple factors increasing water levels to extreme heights.  Read the article to see what scientists are concerned about for our future, it is becoming a critical issue in our region and one that will cost our communities millions (probably billions) to respond to eventually.