As over half of the world’s people now live in regions vulnerable to sea level rise and extreme flooding, the HighWaterLine is a useful tool for many communities globally. We appreciate there is an immense volume of scientific data explaining how climate change is causing our seas to rise, fueling more extreme storms and in some places dramatically increasing rainfall and as a result, causing extreme flooding. Below is a brief overview of the causes of manmade climate change as well as some of the climate change impacts. Please visit the resources at the end for additional information.
What is the greenhouse effect? Natural Greenhouse Effect The term greenhouse is derived from the glass houses people build to trap heat inside to create a warm environment in which to grow food. The Earth’s atmosphere, much like a greenhouse, traps heat, but in a different way. Gases high in …
As the Earth warms up, the oceans warm up too—very slowly but significantly. Water expands as it warms. As the oceans are heated, the water they contain takes up more volume, causing the level of the seas to rise. The seas also rise when ice sheets and land based glaciers …
In the short term, no. Because people have been burning fossil fuels since the industrial revolution, CO2 is already in our atmosphere. These gases can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years before being removed by natural processes. The warming influence of CO2s will go into the next century. Unfortunately …
While hurricanes are a natural part of our climate system, recent research suggests that their destructive power, or intensity, has been growing since the 1970s, particularly in the North Atlantic region. Since the mid-1970s, the number of hurricanes that reach Categories 4 and 5 in strength—the two strongest classifications—has roughly …
Storm surge created by hurricanes is the biggest risk to life and property during a storm. Storm surge happens along the coastline when hurricane winds or the winds from an extreme storm push water towards the coast. The surge intensity depends on many factors including storm strength, speed, angle of …
Climate change creates warmer air which is capable of containing more water vapor than cooler air. When this air becomes a storm, it produces more precipitation. Extreme rainfall often leads to extreme flooding. The most extreme climate impacts predicted in Europe are an increased likelihood of extreme rainfall events and …
Climate change and it’s subsequent sea level rise, stronger storms and more extreme storms all add up to more frequent flooding for many coastal cities. This inundation of water creates chronic problems for homes and a city’s infrastructure. So-called “nuisance flooding” has increased in coastal communities, flooding occurs now with …
DATA RESOURCES NASA Global Climate Change – “The mission of “Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet” is to provide the public with accurate and timely news and information about Earth’s changing climate, along with current data and visualizations, presented from the unique perspective of NASA, one of the world’s …