Photo courtesy Pacific Institute.
The Chronicle ain’t the only thing sinking in San Francisco. According to a new report commissioned by the state, the city will likely be 5′ lower in the Bay by the end of the century.
The global warming-driven rise in sea levels will cause $100 billion in property damage, the report says, and put 480,000 people at risk of a “100-year flood event” if no actions are taken. $100 billion sounds substantial (actually, given the bank bailouts, maybe not so much) but the impact of an additional 5′ of water really hits home when you see how much of land could slip beneath the waves.
The Pacific Institute, who conducted the study for the state, has a
nifty online map showing exactly which areas would be at risk. With just a 5′ rise, SFO airport, Alameda, parts of Silicon Valley, and the foot of the San Mateo bridge are all at increased risk for being nearly totally flooded. Ocean Beach, site of political protests, would be just ocean. In fact, if the waters keep rising as expected, and if “100-year flood events” keep increasing in frequency, the Pacific could invade Golden Gate Park 500 meters at one point, swamping its historic, water-pumping windmills and encroaching on endangered Western Snowy Plover habitat.
Of course, as in Katrina, the people suffering the most from the rising tides will be the poor. In San Francisco, the most dramatic water rise happens in the low-income, but developing, Hunter’s Point neighborhood. Maybe the city can build that new Bay Bridge a little higher.
