Coastal Cities Face $1 Trillion Floods by 2050

[marmar]

Coastal Cities Face $1 Trillion Floods by 2050

Posted on Aug 19, 2013
By Tim Radford, Climate News Network


LONDON—By 2050, flood damage in the world’s coastal cities is expected to reach $1 trillion a year as sea levels rise and global warming triggers new extremes of heat, windstorm and rain.

More than 40% of these prodigious costs could fall upon just four cities – New Orleans, Miami and New York in the US and Guangzhou in China.

Stephane Hallegatte of the World Bank in Washington and colleagues looked at the risks of future flood losses in the 136 largest of the world’s coastal cities.

Any coastal city is always at some risk – by definition it is at sea level, and often on an estuary or floodplain, and very often began as a seaport. .........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/coastal_cities_face_1_trillion_floods_by_2050_20130819/?ln