STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — If rising sea levels weren’t enough to worry about, NASA scientists say a “wobble” in the moon’s orbit could mean some of the highest tides seen in decades.
Scientists with NASA’s Sea Level Change Science Team from the University of Hawaii led the new study and found that high tides in the mid-2030s will go over known flooding thresholds around the country more often.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said they hoped to share their findings to help better prepare and prevent damage to the environment and people’s livelihoods affected by flooding.
“Low-lying areas near sea level are increasingly at risk and suffering due to the increased flooding, and it will only get worse,” Nelson said. “The combination of the moon’s gravitational pull, rising sea levels, and climate change will continue to exacerbate coastal flooding on our coastlines and across the world.”
Additionally, the floods could last a month or more, and be as frequent as every day or two, depending on the positions of the moon, Earth, and the sun, according to NASA.
Phil Thompson, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii and the lead author of the new study, published this month in Nature Climate Change, noted that high-tide floods often result in less severe flooding than coastal storm surges, but that the repeated impact could have the greatest effect.
“It’s the accumulated effect over time that will have an impact,” he said. “But if it floods 10 or 15 times a month, a business can’t keep operating with its parking lot under water. People lose their jobs because they can’t get to work. Seeping cesspools become a public health issue.”
In June, city officials released maps as part of a city stormwater resiliency program that show where high tides may be washing up in the coming decades. The maps showed coastal parts of Staten Island could face frequent coastal flooding.
The Stormwater Resiliency Plan, announced in May, is a 10-year project designed to help New Yorkers prepare for flooding events, and the city plan for emergency response and long-term management, according to the mayor’s office.