REPORT, THIS CAN OCCUR ON SUNNY DAYS AND CLEAR NIGHTS. (VO 1) IT'S HALF PAST ELEVEN ON A CLEAR, MOON-LIT NIGHT OV ER PORTLAND'S CASCO BAY. A 1 2- FOOT KING TIDE IS ABOUT TO OCCUR...THE HIGHEST OF HIGH TIDES...RESULTING FROM THE ASTRONOMIL CA EFFECT OF THE MOON BEING CLOSER TO EARTH. ON THIS STREET IN OLD PORT, THE WATER STARTS RISING, CREEPING UP THROUGH THE STORM DRAINS, AND SPREADING OVER THE ASPHALT. IN THE COURSE OFN A HOUR, THE WHOLE OCBLK IS INUNDATED. A TEAM OF INTERNS FROM THE GULF OF MAINE RESECHAR INSTITUTE, GMRI, IS HERE TO DOCUMENT THIS áNON-STORMá EVENT. (PHIL STANDUP BRIDGE. 4:01:55) "TS HIFLOODING HAS NOTHI NG TO DO WITH RAINFALL. THE LAST RAIN PORTLAND HAS SEE WAS TWO DAYS AGO, AND IT W AS ONLY A QUARTER OF AN INCH." (SOT GAYLE BOWNESS, GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 4:18:05) (COVERED) "LAST NIGHT WAS A WINDOW INTO THE FUTU ORE WHAT WE'RE GOING TO SEE A LOT MORE OFTEN." (VO 2: TWO SHOT....CACSO BAY) GAYLE BOWNESS ("BONUS"), GMRI'S MUNICIPALLI CMATE ACTION PROGRAM MANAGER, SAYS TO EXPECT MORE FLOODING...WITH STATE PROJECTIONS OF A FOOT-A-HNDALF RISE IN GULF WATERS BY THE YEAR 2050. (SOT GAYLE BOWNESS, GULF OF INMAE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 4:20:1 5) "WE HAVE ABOUT 10 TIMES OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR RIG HT NOW WHERE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE AROUND THAT 12 FOOT, WHICH IS THE THRESHOLD FOR FLOODING DOWN AT T HE PORTLAND PIER, WHERE YOU SAW LAST NIGHT. WITH JUST ONE FOOT OF SEA LEVEL RISE, WE'RE GOING TO EXPERIENCE THAT LEVEL OF FLOODING AROUND 100 TIMES PER YR.EA (VO 3: CASCO BAY SCENIC LAST NIGHT) THE GULF OF MAINE RECORDED IT HTEOTST EVER AVERAGE SEA RFSUACE TEMPERATURE LAST YEAR, MORE THAN 4-DEGREES FAHRENHEIT ABOVE NORMAL. (WMTW BAYSIDE FLOODING VIDEO 2120 THE HIGH KING TIDE FLOODING HAPPENS REGULARLY ON SUNNY áDAYSá TOO IN PORTLAND'S LOW-LYING BAYSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD. (GAYLE BOWNESS, GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 4:23:55) "SINCE SEA LEVELS ARE RISING FASTER THAN TY HE HAVE IN THE PAST, AND ALTHOUGH WE AS A GLOBE CAN MAKE SOME DECIONSIS TO REDUCE OUR CARBON EMISSIONS, WE'RE LOCKED INTO SOME OF THAT RISE. , EVEN IF WE WERE TO CUT CARBON EMISSIONS TODAY, WE'RE STILL GOING TO SEE SEA LEV EL RISE PLAY OUT FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS." (VO 4: FLOODG)IN A PREVIEW OF WHAT COASTAL COMMUNITIES COULD SEE MO
Maine climate scientists warn of more frequent king tide flooding without storms
Sea-level rise impacted by climate change is expected to lead to more flooding
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Updated: 11:36 PM EDT Jun 16, 2022
Sea level rise induced by climate change is expected to lead to more frequent high king tides that cause flooding, according to climate scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI).The phenomenon was visible as WMTW watched a king tide occur around midnight Thursday, a clear moon-lit night over Portland's Casco Bay. The 12-foot king tide resulted from the astronomical effect of the moon being closer to earth. On a street in Old Port, the water rose up through storm drains and spread over the asphalt, inundating the block in the course of an hour.The flooding had nothing to do with a storm surge or rainfall. The last rain Portland had seen was two days prior, and that was only a quarter-of-an-inch."Last night was a window into the future of what we're going to see a lot more often," said Gayle Bowness, GMRI’s municipal climate action program manager, said in an interview Thursday.Bowness said GMRI and Maine’s climate action plan project a potential foot-and-a-half rise in gulf waters by the year 2050.Bowness said, "We have about 10 times over the course of a year right now where we're going to have around that 12 foot, which is the threshold for flooding down at the Portland pier, where you saw last night. With just one foot of sea level rise, we're going to experience that level of flooding around 100 times per year."The Gulf of Maine recorded its hottest ever average sea surface temperature last year, more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.High king tide flooding happens regularly on sunny days, too, in Portland's low-lying Bayside neighborhood.Bowness said, "Since sea levels are rising faster than they have in the past, and although we as a globe can make some decisions to reduce our carbon emissions, we're locked into some of that rise. So, even if we were to cut carbon emissions today, we're still going to see sea level rise play out for the next 30 years."GMRI has an interactive online tool to view sea level rise projections in Maine.“As that tidal range increases, our vulnerability to flooding when storms occur is just going to increase,” Bowness said. “We can’t avoid the water. The water is coming. We can’t keep it out.”
PORTLAND, Maine —
Sea level rise induced by climate change is expected to lead to more frequent high king tides that cause flooding, according to climate scientists at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI).
The phenomenon was visible as WMTW watched a king tide occur around midnight Thursday, a clear moon-lit night over Portland's Casco Bay.
The 12-foot king tide resulted from the astronomical effect of the moon being closer to earth.
On a street in Old Port, the water rose up through storm drains and spread over the asphalt, inundating the block in the course of an hour.
The flooding had nothing to do with a storm surge or rainfall. The last rain Portland had seen was two days prior, and that was only a quarter-of-an-inch.
"Last night was a window into the future of what we're going to see a lot more often," said Gayle Bowness, GMRI’s municipal climate action program manager, said in an interview Thursday.
Bowness said GMRI and Maine’s climate action plan project a potential foot-and-a-half rise in gulf waters by the year 2050.
Bowness said, "We have about 10 times over the course of a year right now where we're going to have around that 12 foot, which is the threshold for flooding down at the Portland pier, where you saw last night. With just one foot of sea level rise, we're going to experience that level of flooding around 100 times per year."
The Gulf of Maine recorded its hottest ever average sea surface temperature last year, more than 4 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.
High king tide flooding happens regularly on sunny days, too, in Portland's low-lying Bayside neighborhood.
Bowness said, "Since sea levels are rising faster than they have in the past, and although we as a globe can make some decisions to reduce our carbon emissions, we're locked into some of that rise. So, even if we were to cut carbon emissions today, we're still going to see sea level rise play out for the next 30 years."
GMRI has an interactive online tool to view sea level rise projections in Maine.
“As that tidal range increases, our vulnerability to flooding when storms occur is just going to increase,” Bowness said. “We can’t avoid the water. The water is coming. We can’t keep it out.”
