Sunday, January 18, 2009, 11:42am
The report, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Geological Survey and other agencies, is one of a series examining the potential effects of a rising sea level on the nation's coasts.
The rise in sea level is accelerating, the report said, because warmer water occupies more space and because of runoff from melting inland glaciers and ice sheets. The Middle Atlantic States are particularly vulnerable because the rates of rise are "moderately high" there, the region is subject to storms, it is densely populated and much of its infrastructure is in low-lying areas.
The report, which is available at climatescience.gov, says that in the 20th century, rates of erosion in the region varied from 2.4 millimeters to 4.4 millimeters a year, or about a foot over 100 years. In the future, the report said, "it is virtually certain" that coastal headlands, spits and barrier islands will erode faster than they have in the past.