Climate Change: 13.1 Million People in the U.S. Face Migration Due to Massive Flooding

By Ana Verayo, | March 15, 2016

Climate change will last for thousands of years, leading to sea levels rising and coastal cities becoming submerged.

Climate change will last for thousands of years, leading to sea levels rising and coastal cities becoming submerged.

Rising sea levels that are caused by the effects of climate change can apparently displace millions of Americans, some 13 million people to be exact that includes six million in Florida, within this century. This is also based on new research which is also three times more than previous estimates. 

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Researchers from the United States Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration conducted an assessment of sea level change scenarios that can span up to 2100, where coastal states' population growth are measured with these trends, that are projected along with regions that are at high risk.

Data revealed that sea levels will rise up to 91 centimeters, within locations that are home to about 4.2 million people. This means that these areas are at risk of heavy flooding where doubling these numbers can even lead to 13.1 million people being affected by higher sea levels.

Coastal regions are often very densely populated where Florida faces with the greatest risk of flooding, of up to 6.06 million residents that are estimated to be affected by sea levels that will rise up to 1.8 meters. This state is followed by Louisiana where 1.29 million people are at risk and in California, where 1 million will be exposed to heavy floods.

Apart from these three states, there are other states that are also affected with these heavy impacts, for example, New York can place an estimate of 901,000, New Jersey can affect 827,000 citizens, Virginia, a total of 476,000, Massachusetts a total of 428,000 people, Texas can yield 405,000, South Carolina on the other hand 374,000 and lastly North Carolina, some 298,000 citizens will be displaced by flooding. 

According to Deepak Mishra of the University of Georgia, this significant sea level rise is an indication that climate change can become a reality for millions of people all over the world.

According to lead author of the study Mathew Hauer from the University of Georgia, these projections of people that can become displaced are now three times larges that prior estimates. In this new study, researchers now say that the effects of these rising sea levels can result on population movements in the U.S. that are likened to the 20th century Great Migration that occurred among southern African Americans.

This shift revealed an estimate of 6 million black people migrating from rural southern states towards the cities in northern regions, the midwest and western states from 1910 to the 1970s.

Researchers also add that more than one fourth of the residents of major cities such as Miami and New Orleans can experience much of this coastal flooding.This new study is published in the journal Nature Climate Change. 

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