>> For years, scientists have
warned about the dangerous
consequences of climate change.
More of the dire outcomes are
more urgent than people realize.
We are back with a new report
showing how sea level rise will
threaten homes and properties in
hundreds of counties along the
coast of the United States
making many places unlovable and
taking an enormous economic toll
in the coming years.
>> This report released shows
thousands of homes and
businesses in Louisiana, Texas,
North Carolina, and Florida are
in danger of being lost or
damaged because of rising sea
levels.
The report says in 30 years, 4
million acres of land will be
increasingly threatened by you
-- routine flooding.
Over $100 billion worth of
property could be in jeopardy as
the coastlines of the U.S.
Continue to creep inland.
Don Bain is a senior advisor at
climate central and led this
report.
Thank you for being here.
Your report indicates
potentially hundreds of
thousands of Americans who
bought or built along the
coastlines of this country could
see those structures seriously
in danger.
Could you sketch out that
distance?
>> In particular, it describes
how the line between private
property and public tidelands
moves as the water rises.
We have this concept of floods
as something that happens and it
is only temporary and the water
leaves.
What we're talking about here is
permanent flooding.
As that line moves, that line is
what each individual state uses
to determine who owns the land.
So for the first time where
having to face the prospect that
individual owners are going to
lose their property.
And the scale of problem as you
see in the report is huge.
By 2050, using a modest or
intermediate climate model, we
stand to lose about as many
square miles as New Jersey
currently occupies.
>> It is starting to think about
that, a landmass the size of new
Jersey could be taken off the
map of coastal areas all over
this country.
I mentioned some of the places
most at risk.
Wire those places particularly
vulnerable?
>> Sealevel rise is not evenly
distributed.
There are many reasons for this
and the biggest is that the land
is also moving.
We are getting more than the
average amount of sea level rise
on the seacoast and the gulf
coast.
It is beginning at about the
global average.
Not only is the water rising,
but the land is sinking.
This contributes to the problem
and makes it worse.
In addition, not every location
is created equally.
Many of them have a slope that
is very gradual.
A foot of extra sea level can
cause the water to run and lend
hundreds of feet.
-- And lend -- inland hundreds
of feet.
It is happening worse at some
locations than others.
>> As your report indicates,
it's not just the trauma of
individuals losing their homes
or hotels or businesses that
they have built along the coast.
But it is also the economic
impact that that would have, not
just on those people but on
their local cities and counties
tax base.
>> This is a terrible problem if
you lose your property or your
business.
But it's also important to know
that local governments and our
schools depend upon property
taxes to fund education, local
government services, and things
that we count on.
At the time that these waters
are rising is when many cities
will be facing increased
expenses associated with
repairing roads, fixing
stormwater systems, and other
interventions they may need to
make in order to address the
problem.
At the same time we are losing
potential tax revenue, the
expenses may be going up.
It is a double whammy.
It is terrible.
>> How much of this is baked in
given the carbon we have put in
the atmosphere and how long it
will stay up there?
How much of this is irreversible
and how much of this they have
some future control over?
>> I would like to make it clear
that we have choices to make.
The choices that we make make a
big difference, the choices we
make between now and 2050 are
baked in as a function of the
scale of the oceans and the
planetary system.
We put a lot of heat into the
ocean.
>> Local governments and people
most on the front lines of this.
>> The conversations we have
been having have changed
dramatically.
We want to educate and inform
people so that they can
participate in the adaptation.
>> Thank you for this sobering