Rising Sea Level Threatens Coastal Restoration, New Orleans Levees

"Even as Louisiana embarks on a multi-billion-dollar program to begin rebuilding its coast, evidence continues to mount that new coastal land will have to contend with a more rapid rise in sea level than projected in present state plans.

NASA officials Wednesday said the present rate of worldwide sea level rise has reached 3 millimeters a year (0.13 inch/year) and is increasing, the result of global warming. That compares to 1.7 millimeters a year for the entire 20th Century and 1.8 millimeters between 1961 to 2003, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

NASA's scientists studying sea level change say that means an increase of at least 3 feet in sea level, though they are not certain whether that level will be reached within 100 years or longer."

Mark Schleifstein reports for the New Orleans Times-Picayune August 27, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"New Orleans Area's Upgraded Levees Not Enough for Next 'Katrina,' Engineers Say" (New Orleans Times-Picayune)