As climate change pushes seas to rise ever higher, shallow groundwater could become a more costly hazard across the Atlantic coast, particularly in South Florida where the water table sits just feet below the surface, according to a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey.
Up to 70% of residents between North Carolina and Florida, and a trillion dollars in property, could be impacted by the end of the century with just over three feet of sea rise. South Florida represents the vast majority of that risk, with about 7 million people and $750 billion in property expected to face increasing risks as groundwaters rise, the study found.
“We often get fixated on overland flooding. It’s more dramatic. It happens during hurricanes,” said Patrick Barnard, a research geologist at USGS and lead author on the study. “But that water table is going to rise through time and it’s going to amplify those overland flooding impacts.”
That means that in addition to fixating on elevations in low-lying South Florida, we also need to pay attention to the hidden water table.