Agencies were preparing for more intense heat, protecting the new downtown sea wall under construction and calculating the number of pump stations and outfalls that would be under water, as they anticipate sea-level rise caused by heat-trapping greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by humans.
Calculations by the Washington Climate Impacts Group and the Washington Department of Ecology published in 2008 predict a sea-level rise in Seattle of six inches by 2050. Less-likely scenarios are sea-level rises of three inches on the low end and 22 inches on the high end, the Times reported.
A green ribbon commission has come up with recommendations to respond to climate changes. “We did this map to understand impacts on our infrastructure,” Paul Fleming, manager of climate and sustainability for Seattle Public Utilities, told the Times. “In the big picture, this isn’t just about sea-level rise. It’s about drinking water, urban flooding, and how we design new projects.”
Seattle’s water supply is in the central Cascade Mountains, so it won’t be infiltrated by seawater creeping toward groundwater. But as the sea creeps upward, water supply, drainage and wastewater infrastructure possibly could be affected by everything from flooding to corrosion.
Other effects of climate change, including drought and wildfires, also could diminish the water-supply quality and quantity in the far future....
Seattle's skyline at dusk, shot by Cacophony, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
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