The city of Seattle has released a study that shows that parts of city will be flooded by high tides within the next 40 years, due to rising sea levels and climate change. One of those areas includes Golden Gardens, which could be significantly changed by rising sea levels, as the map below shows.
Sea Level Rise Estimate Map provided by the City of Seattle. The dark blue area shows areas of flooding from high tides and storms. The estimate was developed based on the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group and a Washington Department of Ecology Report. Click here for the full map of Seattle.
Other areas prone to flooding by 2050 include parts of West Seattle, Georgetown, South Park, Harbor Island, and Interbay. “Climate change is an immediate and critical challenge,” City Councilmember Mike O’Brien, chair of the Energy & Environment Committee said in a statement. “We are already seeing impacts in Seattle from extreme events, such as last month’s flooding of some 100 properties along Beach Drive in West Seattle. We need to take bold steps to prepare our city for expected impacts and drastically reduce our contribution to greenhouse gases going forward.”
Golden Gardens was also impacted by last month’s “king tide,” and one of our readers, Ryan Schmidt, grabbed this shot on his morning run on Dec. 18.
According to the city, they’ve already taken action to deal with climate change, and is working on a Climate Action Plan to aim to be carbon neutral by 2050. The Green Ribbon Commission, a climate change focus group of 26 community, environmental and business leaders, helped shape the plan. Seattle City Council is now asking for public input on a set of recommendations for a new Climate Action Plan that were put forward by the commission. The plan includes recommendations on transportation, land use, building clean energy, and ways for adapting to climate impacts.
City Councilmember O’Brien says there will be a number of public forums and an online survey to gather input from residents. “We welcome all ideas and suggestions for actions we should take in the next three years as well as in the long-term. We plan to adopt a bold Climate Action Plan on Earth Day, April 22,” he says.