\u201cWe do have time to respond and try to mitigate the risks and also increase resilience,” she added, speaking at a media briefing Wednesday ahead of the study’s release. The study was funded by the Environmental Protection Agency<\/a> and builds on previous research from California<\/a>. <\/p>\n Climate change is driving and accelerating sea level rise. Glaciers<\/a> and ice sheets are melting, and the sea’s waters are expanding as they warm. In many places along the coastal U.S., sea level rise is accelerating faster than the global average because of things like erosion and land sinking from groundwater pumping, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration<\/a>. <\/p>\n open image in gallery<\/p>\n A melting ice cap (Getty\/iStock)<\/p>\n Thomas Chandler, managing director at the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University<\/a> who was not involved in the research, said it\u2019s \u201ca really important study\u201d that the public, policy makers and government agencies \u201cneed to make note of.\u201d <\/p>\n Derek Van Berkel, an associate professor in the school for environment and sustainability at University of Michigan<\/a> who was also not involved in the study, wasn’t surprised to learn about the disproportionate risks. What was \u201calarming\u201d was considering the magnitude of \u201cfeedback effects\u201d from flooding, he said. <\/p>\n The study’s researchers started by identifying and classifying tens of thousands of hazardous sites near the coasts of Puerto Rico<\/a> and the 23 states with coastline. Next, they wanted to know each site’s projected future flood risk. They did this by calculating how likely each year coastal flooding could inundate a site using historical sea level measurements and projected sea level rise in 2050 and 2100 under low and high emissions scenarios. Lastly, they identified and classified communities as being at-risk if homes are located within 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) of a hazardous site with a high threat of future flooding, and compared those communities’ characteristics with other coastal neighborhoods with no at-risk sites nearby. <\/p>\n But researchers did not include all types of hazardous facilities, such as oil and gas pipelines, nor did they account for groundwater upwelling or more intense and frequent storms in the future, which could lead to underestimates. On the other end, the flood-risk model they used could have overestimated the number of threatened sites. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is important to note that previous disasters, such as hurricanes Katrina<\/a>, Rita and Harvey<\/a>, did result in a lot of toxic contamination from oil and gas pipelines,\u201d Chandler said. <\/p>\n The 5,500 at-risk sites includes 44% that are fossil fuel ports and terminals, 30% power plants, 24% refineries and 22% coastal sewage treatment facilities. Most of the sites \u2014 nearly 80% \u2014 are in Louisiana<\/a>, Florida<\/a>, New Jersey<\/a>, Texas<\/a>, California, New York<\/a> and Massachusetts<\/a>. <\/p>\n Potential health impacts from exposure to hazards<\/p>\n People<\/a> exposed to flood waters near industrial animal farms or sewage treatment plants could be exposed to bacteria like E. coli, said Sacoby Wilson, professor of global, environmental and occupational health at the University of Maryland<\/a> during the briefing. Symptoms<\/a> can include bloody or watery diarrhea, severe stomach cramps or vomiting and fever. <\/p>\n Those living near industrial sites like refineries could be exposed to heavy metals and chemicals that can cause rashes, burning of the eyes, nose and throat, headaches or fatigue, added Wilson, who was not involved in the study. \u201cFor folks who are vulnerable, maybe have an underlying health condition, those health conditions could be exacerbated during those flood events.\u201d <\/p>\n Longer term, some of these exposures could contribute to cancer, liver, kidney or other organ damage, or have reproductive effects, he said. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/iStock-1708150164.jpg\")
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