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The Conversation
The Conversation
Environment
Philip M. Orton, Research Associate Professor in Ocean Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology

Coastal cities have a hidden vulnerability to storm-surge and tidal flooding − entirely caused by humans

A consequence of dredging deep channels is that water also enters more easily with tides and storm surge. Google Earth

Centuries ago, estuaries around the world were teeming with birds and turbulent with schools of fish, their marshlands and endless tracts of channels melting into the gray-blue horizon.

Fast-forward to today, and in estuaries such as New York Harbor, San Francisco Bay and Miami’s Biscayne Bay – areas where rivers meet the sea – 80% to 90% of this habitat has been built over.

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