00:00The Relentless Rise, How Sea Levels Are Reshaping America's Coasts
00:04There is no single wall of water racing toward the coast.
00:09That is what makes the danger easier to ignore.
00:13Sea level rise is slower, quieter, and relentless.
00:18Along America's coasts, the ocean is creeping higher,
00:21while storms, tides, erosion, and flooding become more damaging.
00:26NOAA says coastal counties are home to roughly 129 million Americans, nearly 40% of the country.
00:33That means sea level rise is not a distant island problem.
00:37It is a U.S. housing problem, a road problem, a school problem, a drinking water problem,
00:45a beach problem, a military base problem, a wildlife problem.
00:50Federal projections show U.S. coastlines could see around 10 to 12 more inches of sea level rise by 2050,
00:57with some Atlantic and Gulf areas facing even higher local impacts because of land sinking,
01:02currents, storms, and regional ocean patterns.
01:05One foot may not sound terrifying,
01:08but one foot changes everything when the land is flat, the tide is high,
01:13and a storm surge arrives on top of it.
01:16Today's nuisance flood can become tomorrow's regular high tide.
01:21Marshes can drown if they cannot move inland.
01:24Salt water can push into groundwater.
01:27Roads can flood more often.
01:29Homes that once flooded rarely may start flooding repeatedly.
01:33And marine life feels the shift too.
01:36Coastal wetlands, turtle-nesting beaches, estuaries, oyster reefs, and fish nurseries
01:41all depend on the thin boundary between land and sea.
01:44That boundary is moving.
01:46The Atlantic is not just water on a map.
01:49It is pressure.
01:51And the people, animals, and cities,
01:54living along its edge are now learning what happens when the edge refuses to stay still.
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