The San Francisco Bay shoreline, where yellow indicates areas where a projected rise in sea level (SLR) will result in flooding by 2100. Red shows where local land subsidence (LLS) will combine with SLR to increase the flood-prone areas.
Credit: ASU/Manoochehr Shirzaei
Hazard maps use estimated sea level rise due to climate change to determine flooding risk for today’s shoreline, but don’t take into account that some land is sinking. A precise study of subsidence around San Francisco Bay shows that for conservative estimates of sea level rise, twice the area is in danger of flooding by 2100 than previously thought. Some landfill is sinking 10 mm per year, threatening the airport and parts of Silicon Valley.
Rising sea levels are predicted to submerge many coastal areas around San Francisco Bay by 2100, but a new study warns that sinking land — primarily the compaction of landfill in places such as Treasure Island and Foster City — will make flooding even worse.
Using precise measurements of subsidence around the Bay Area between 2007 and […]
