High-tide floods, also called “nuisance floods,” occur in coastal locations when tides reach about 2 feet (0.6 meters) above the day-to-day average high tide and begin to flood onto streets or seep through storm drains pipes. True to their label, these floods are more of a nuisance than a straight-out calamity, swamping houses and streets, requiring companies to close and triggering cesspools to overflow– however the longer they last, the more damage they can do.The U.S. experienced more than 600 of these floods in 2019, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Now, a new research study led by NASA alerts that problem floods will become a much more regular occurrence in the U.S. as quickly as the 2030s, with a bulk of the U.S. coastline expected to see three to four times as many high-tide flood days each year for at least a decade.The study, released June 21 in the journal Nature Climate Change, alerts that these additional flood days wont be spread out equally over the year, but are most likely to cluster together over the period of simply a few months; seaside areas that now face simply two or three floods a month might quickly face a lots or more.These extended seaside flood seasons will cause significant interruptions to lives and livelihoods if neighborhoods dont begin planning for them now, the researchers warned. By the year 2100, sea levels might increase anywhere from 12 inches (0.3 m) to 8.2 feet (2.5 m) above where they were in 2000, depending on how well people limit greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decades.While increasing sea levels alone will increase the frequency of high-tide floods, they will have a little help from the universes– particularly, the moon.The moon affects the tides, but the power of the moons pull isnt equal from year to year; the moon in fact has a “wobble” in its orbit, slightly modifying its position relative to Earth on a rhythmic 18.6-year cycle.

High-tide floods, likewise called “nuisance floods,” occur in coastal areas when tides reach about 2 feet (0.6 meters) above the daily average high tide and start to flood onto streets or seep through storm drains. Real to their nickname, these floods are more of a problem than a straight-out disaster, inundating houses and streets, requiring services to close and causing cesspools to overflow– however the longer they last, the more damage they can do.The U.S. experienced more than 600 of these floods in 2019, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Now, a new study led by NASA warns that problem floods will end up being a much more frequent incident in the U.S. as quickly as the 2030s, with a bulk of the U.S. coastline expected to see three to 4 times as many high-tide flood days each year for at least a decade.The research study, released June 21 in the journal Nature Climate Change, warns that these additional flood days wont be spread out uniformly over the year, however are likely to cluster together over the period of just a few months; seaside locations that now deal with simply 2 or 3 floods a month may quickly deal with a dozen or more.These prolonged seaside flood seasons will cause significant interruptions to lives and livelihoods if communities do not start planning for them now, the researchers warned.