Sea level rise will make Sandy-like damage more likely

Wetlands along Barnegat Bay (Credit: Famartin, via Wikimedia Commons)

A study of New Jersey sediment cores shows sea level rise will make damage similar to flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy is more likely with smaller storms, according to release from Tufts University.

Looking back as far as 1788, when New York City saw its first major storm, the researchers found the sea rose 16 inches.

Andrew Kemp, a geology professor at Tufts University, said sinking land and melting ice caps likely caused the water level increase relative to the coast.

Historical water level rise was determined by looking at sediment cores from Barnegat Bay, N.J., south of New York City’s Battery Park. The researchers analyzed Foraminifera, small protists preserved in the sediment, to determine sea levels. They dated layers based on sediment pollution layers.

Image: Wetlands along Barnegat Bay (Credit: Famartin, via Wikimedia Commons)