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Please see EPA's Climate Change site for current information on climate change and global warming. EPA no longer updates EPA's Global Warming Site, but is maintaining this archive for historical purposes. Thank you for visiting the archive of EPA's Global Warming Site.
Maps of Lands Vulnerable to Sea Level Rise -- On the Mid-Atlantic Coast
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| New Jersey Coast |
Delaware Bay
Download B&W Map (141 KB)
Download Color Map (141 KB)
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| (Click on maps to see a larger image.)
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| Chesapeake Bay
Download B&W Map (277.6 KB)
Download Color Map (278.1 KB)
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Maryland Coast
Download B&W Map (274 KB)
Download Color Map (274 KB)
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| (Click on maps to see a larger image.)
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Note: Elevations are based on computer models, not actual surveys. Coastal protection efforts may prevent some low-lying areas from being flooded as sea level rises. The 1.5-meter contour depicted is currently about 1.3-meters above mean sea level. Therefore, some of the areas depicted in red will be above mean sea level for at least 100, and probably 200, years. However, because mean spring high water (i.e., high tide during new and full moons) is typically 60 cm above sea level, the 1.3-meter contour would be flooded a few times per month by a 70 cm rise in sea level.
Over the next century, sea level is most likely to rise 55-60 cm along most of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The 3.5-meter contour roughly illustrates an area that might be flooded over a period of several centuries.
Maps of Lands Vulnerable to Sea Level Rise: Modeled Elevations along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts was originally published in Climate Research, 18:205-228 (2001). You can download the underlying geographical information system (GIS) data for an example quadrangle and learn how to obtain the entire dataset underlying this study.
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