Section 1: Comparing TRI and Greenhouse Gas Emissions

TRI Facilities and Sea-Level Rise

View Larger Map, Click on any one of the TRI facilities on the map to see detailed information.

Global sea-level rise has been a persistent trend for decades. It is expected to continue beyond the end of this century, which will cause significant impacts in the United States. Scientists have very high confidence (greater than 90% chance) that the global mean sea-level will rise at least 8 inches (0.2 meters) and no more than 6.6 feet (2.0 meters) by 2100.¹ This map displays facility locations that reported to TRI in 2013 with a preliminary look at the potential of a 2 foot sea-level rise as projected by NOAA. The blue areas on the coast show the potential sea-level rise inundation of 2 feet above the current Mean Higher High Water mark. Therefore, TRI facilities in or near this area may be inundated in a 2-foot sea-level rise scenario. Prior to any actual sea-level rise, many of these facilities face a higher potential to experience flooding or other weather-related damage due to periodic storm events.

Notes:

• These sea-level rise data are provided by NOAA's Coastal Services Center and illustrate the scale of potential flooding, not the exact location. They should only be used for screening-level visualization and should not be used for navigation, permitting, or other legal purposes.
• The NOAA sea-level rise map includes all states except for Louisiana and Alaska. There are no plans to map Alaska because of inadequate statewide coastal elevation data. Similarly, Louisiana is not included because of lack of recent, accurate coastal elevation data and the difficulty in accurately flood mapping this coastal geography that includes a complex levee system. NOAA is discussing the issue with Louisiana officials.

For information about how the federal government is taking action to help Americans adapt to current and potential risks for climate change, see EPA's website on federal and EPA adaptation programs.

This page was published in January 2015 and uses the 2013 TRI National Analysis dataset made public in TRI Explorer in October 2014.