By the year 2100, swollen seas and rivers will redraw shorelines as climbing temperatures melt ice caps. In one of the most extreme scenarios, waters globally could rise by as much as eight feet, and even a smaller amount of flooding would inundate low-lying areas of the coast. In places like New York, which is home to around 8.6 million people, even moderate flooding could drastically impact the city’s population and infrastructure.
The city got a taste of its future after Hurricane Sandy struck New York City in 2012. Soon afterward, the city announced several resiliency projects, which are all designed to keep water away from New York’s streets. While inspired (in part) by the dramatic onslaught of a storm, many of these projects are also designed to keep the Big Apple as dry as possible as sea level rise eats away at coasts around the world.
The latest plan involves spending $10 billion to extend part of Lower Manhattan out into the East River, in addition to shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars on other resiliency projects. Check out our video above to learn more about the city’s costly plans to protect its coasts.
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