Greenhouse Effect and Sea Level Rise The Cost of strongHoldingstrong Back.pdf

Originally in Coastal Management, Volume 19, pp. 171-204 (1991) Greenhouse Effect and Sea Level Rise: The Cost of Holding Back the Sea JAMES G.TITUS Office of Policy Analysis U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, DC 20460 RICHARD A. PARK School of Public and Environmental Affairs Indiana University Bloomington, IN 47405 STEPHEN P. LEATHERMAN Department of Geography University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 J. RICHARD WEGGEL Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering Drexel University Philadelphia, PA 19104 MICHAEL S. GREENE The Bruce Company Washington, DC 20024 PAUL W. MAUSEL Department of Geography and Geology Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN 47809 SCOTT BROWN JCA Associates Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054 GARY GAUNT Science Applications International Corporation Mclean, VA 22102 MANJIT TREHAN Indiana University and Purdue University at Indianapolis Indianapolis, IN 46202 GARY YOHE Department of Economics Wesleyan University Middletown, CT 06457 1 Greenhouse Effect and Sea Level Rise: The Cost of Holding Back the Sea Abstract: Previous studies suggest that the expected global warming from the greenhouse effect could raise sea level 50 to 200 centimeters (2 to 7 feet) in the next century. This article presents the first nationwide assessment of the primary impacts of such a rise on the United States: (1) the cost of protecting ocean resort communities by pumping sand onto beaches and gradually raising barrier islands in place; (2) the cost of protecting developed areas along sheltered waters through the use of levees (dikes) and bulkheads; and (3) the loss of coastal wetlands and undeveloped lowlands. The total cost for a one-meter rise would be $270-475 billi