Thousands of toxic sites across US face risk of coastal flooding

"The study, published on Thursday in Nature Communications and led by scientists at the University of California, warns that if heat-trapping pollution continues unabated, rising seas will flood a wide range of hazardous facilities including those handling sewage, toxic waste, oil and gas, as well as other industrial pollutants. The analysis relies on projections of a 1%-annual-chance flood commonly called a 100-year flood under two emissions scenarios: a high-emissions scenario and a lower-emissions scenario."

"After examining 23 coastal states and Puerto Rico, scientists found that flood risk is far from evenly distributed. Florida, New Jersey, California, Louisiana, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas account for nearly 80% of the hazardous sites expected to be at risk by 2100. By examining over 47,600 coastal facilities across the US, more than 11%, or 5,500 facilities are projected to be at risk of a 1-in-100-year or more frequent flood event by the end of the 21st century."

More than 5,500 coastal hazardous facilities are projected to face a 1%-annual-chance flood by 2100, representing over 11% of 47,600 coastal facilities examined. Florida, New Jersey, California, Louisiana, New York, Massachusetts and Texas account for nearly 80% of at-risk sites. By 2050 nearly 3,800 hazardous facilities are projected to face flooding threats, indicating most risk is already locked in from past emissions. Limiting greenhouse gas emissions to a lower scenario reduces projected at-risk sites to 5,138 by 2100 (362 fewer, a 7% reduction). Over a fifth of sewage plants, refineries and formerly used defense sites, roughly a third of power plants, and over 40% of fossil fuel ports and terminals are projected at risk.

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