19 June 2018•Update: 20 June 2018
By Barry Eitel
SAN FRANCISCO
A report published Monday estimated climate change could cause coastal flooding that would devastate over 300,000 homes in the United States by 2045.
The study, by science advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists, found that the cost of the damage of coastal flooding over the next 30 years would be worth about $120 billion. Global warming could be even more catastrophic by the end of the century, the report noted, with flooding costing over $1 trillion.
Within 100 years, massive coastal flooding could ravage populous urban areas including New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area and Miami.
Not only would consistent flooding wreck the real estate market, the weather patterns would likely ruin crucial infrastructure and defense structures.
“It is also important to note that these results do not include future development or new homes, nor do they include critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges, power plants, airports, ports, public buildings, and military bases,” the report said of the results. “When all of these are taken together, the effects of chronic flooding could have staggering economic impacts.”
The group behind the study reached out to dozens of experts for thoughts on the study as well.
“We believe the risk is serious and has the potential to materially impact commercial property values in certain coastal areas within a foreseeable time frame,” Douglas Poutasse of Bentall Kennedy, one of the largest global real estate investment analysis firms, said in a statement.
“We are currently monitoring the risks in our analysis of new opportunities in potentially affected areas and plan to introduce more rigorous analysis as better projections become available.”
In order to estimate the results, the scientists looked at where coastal flooding would likely increase as the earth warms due to climate change. Researchers were then able to compare the locations with real estate cost information.
