ss2.climatecentral.orgSurging Seas: Risk Zone Map

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Please upgrade your browser to view this site. × Sea level maps not available at this latitude due to elevation and coastline data quality challenges 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Risk Zone Map Choose your language Learn about this map Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Download data See more map data See more map data Embed this scene See more Social Vulnerability Population Ethnicity Income Property Landmarks Legend Tide Gauges Tide Gauges Population Internet Infrastructure × Download map image Analysis products About Us | Disclaimer | Terms | Privacy | Contact Sea level tools and analysis by Download local data × Extensive U.S. analysis data are accessible and downloadable via our companion web tool, Surging Seas Risk Finder , including: Localized sea level rise and flood risk projections Exposure analysis that covers over 100 demographic, economic, infrastructure and environmental variables Community comparisons Printable narrative PDFs for every city, county A range of custom analysis offerings is also available to organizations providing specific data and resources. Flood layers are available for viewing in Google Earth. Download a KML file and open with Google Earth to explore 1-10 ft water levels. Note: Global tide gauge projections are downloadable via this Surging Seas Risk Zone map. To access them, (1) click “See projections” (2) click the date on the colored pop-up (3) click “Get more data.” Embed This Map × 1. Enter required user information Name and Organization 2. Add an optional caption and/or URL Caption URL 3. Check the preview below 4. Copy and paste the code below for your website This embedded map inherits the position and data layers from the big version. If you'd like it to show another data layer, or a different place, just close this and change the big version to how you want it, then hit EMBED THIS MAP again. Select your language × -- About This Site × Introduction | Methods and Qualifiers | Data Layers | Sources | Services | Team | Special Thanks | Site Credits | Legal Introduction Climate Central’s Surging Seas: Risk Zone map shows areas vulnerable to near-term flooding from different combinations of sea level rise, storm surge, tides, and tsunamis, or to permanent submersion by long-term sea level rise. Within the U.S., it incorporates the latest, high-resolution, high-accuracy lidar elevation data supplied by NOAA (exceptions: see Sources ), displays points of interest, and contains layers displaying social vulnerability, population density, and property value. Outside the U.S., it utilizes satellite-based elevation data from NASA in some locations, and Climate Central’s more accurate CoastalDEM in others (see Methods and Qualifiers ). It provides the ability to search by location name or postal code. The accompanying Risk Finder is an interactive data toolkit available for some countries that provides local projections and assessments of exposure to sea level rise and coastal flooding tabulated for many sub-national districts, down to cities and postal codes in the U.S. Exposure assessments always include land and population, and in the U.S. extend to over 100 demographic, economic, infrastructure and environmental variables using data drawn mainly from federal sources, including NOAA, USGS, FEMA, DOT, DOE, DOI, EPA, FCC and the Census. This web tool was highlighted at the launch of The White House's Climate Data Initiative in March 2014. Climate Central's original Surging Seas was featured on NBC , CBS , and PBS U.S. national news, the cover of The New York Times , in hundreds of other stories, and in testimony for the U.S. Senate . The Atlantic Cities named it the most important map of 2012 . Both the Risk Zone map and the Risk Finder are grounded in peer-reviewed science . Back to top Methods and Qualifiers This map is based on analysis of digital elevation models mosaicked together for near-total coverage of the global coast. Details and sources for U.S. and international data are below. Elevations are transformed so they are expressed relative to local high tide lines (Mean Higher High Water, or MHHW). A simple elevation threshold-based “bathtub method” is then applied to determine areas below different water levels, relative to MHHW. Within the U.S., areas below the selected water level but apparently not connected to the ocean at that level are shown in a stippled green (as opposed to solid blue) on the map. Outside the U.S., due to data quality issues and data limitations, all areas below the selected level are shown as solid blue, unless separated from the ocean by a ridge at least 20 meters (66 feet) above MHHW, in which case they are shown as not affected (no blue). Areas using lidar-based elevation data: U.S. coastal states except Alaska Elevation data used for parts of this map within the U.S. come almost entirely from ~5-meter horizontal resolution digital elevation models curated and distributed by NOAA in its Coastal Lidar collection, derived from high-accuracy laser-rangefinding measurements. The same data are used in NOAA’s Sea Level Rise Viewer . (High-resolution elevation data for Louisiana, southeast Virginia, and limited other areas comes from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) ). Areas using CoastalDEM™ elevation data: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Corn Island (Nicaragua), Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Blas (Panama), Suriname, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago. CoastalDEM™ is a proprietary high-accuracy bare earth elevation dataset developed especially for low-lying coastal areas by Climate Central. Use our contact form to request more information. Warning for areas using other elevation data (all other areas) Areas of this map not listed above use elevation data on a roughly 90-meter horizontal resolution grid derived from NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). SRTM provides surface elevations, not bare earth elevations, causing it to commonly overestimate elevations, especially in areas with dense and tall buildings or vegetation. Therefore, the map under-portrays areas that could be submerged at each water level, and exposure is greater than shown (Kulp and Strauss, 2016) . However, SRTM includes error in both directions, so some areas showing exposure may not be at risk. SRTM data do not cover latitudes farther north than 60 degrees or farther south than 56 degrees, meaning that sparsely populated parts of Arctic Circle nations are not mapped here, and may show visual artifacts. Areas of this map in Alaska use elevation data on a roughly 60-meter horizontal resolution grid supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) . This data is referenced to a vertical reference frame from 1929, based on historic sea levels, and with no established conversion to modern reference frames. The data also do not take into account subsequent land uplift and subsidence, widespread in the state. As a consequence, low confidence should be placed in Alaska map portions. Flood control structures (U.S.) Levees, walls, dams or other features may protect some areas, especially at lower elevations. Levees and other flood control structures are included in this map within but not outside of the U.S., due to poor and missing data. Within the U.S., data limitations, such as an incomplete inventory of levees, and a lack of levee height data, still make assessing protection difficult. For this map, levees are assumed high and strong enough for flood protection. However, it is important to note that only 8% of monitored levees in the U.S. are rated in “Acceptable” condition (ASCE). Also note that the map implicitly includes unmapped levees and their heights, if broad enough to be effectively captured directly by the elevation data. For more information on how Surging Seas incorporates levees and elevation data in Louisiana, view our Louisiana levee...