Energy Infrastructure Threat from Sea Level Rise

By Climate Central

Map use instructions: Move the slider to see facilities at different elevations; hover over the start of the boxed sentence to choose among different facility types; and hover over a state to see statistics for that state. 

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Sea level rise from global warming is well on the way to doubling the risk of coastal floods 4 feet or more over high tide by 2030 at locations nationwide. In the lower 48 states, nearly 300 energy facilities stand on land below that level, including natural gas infrastructure, electric power plants and oil and gas refineries. Many more facilities are at risk at higher levels, where flooding will become progressively more likely with time as the sea continues to rise. These results come from a Climate Central combined analysis of datasets from NOAA, USGS and FEMA, published in a Surging Seas Brief and included in testimonybefore the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on April 19. For a fuller picture of risk from sea level rise and storm surge, including statistics for 3,000 towns, cities, counties and states, plus threat timelines, see the Surging Seas interactive map.

New Report: Sea Level Rise Threatens Hundreds of U.S. Energy Facilities (PDF)
Interactive Map: Surging Seas, Sea Level Rise Analysis
News:Senate Hearing Focuses on Threat of Sea Level Rise
Watch: Archived webcast of Senate hearing
Read: Senate testimony of five witnesses