World: Rising seas, wild weather threaten to drown U.S. airports by 2100

Some of the world’s busiest airports, including in US cities such as New Orleans, Palm Springs in California and Key West, could be underwater by the end of the century if unchecked global warming pushes up sea levels, researchers said Wednesday. An analysis by the Washington-based World Resources Institute (WRI) found that with 1m of sea-level rise, an estimated 80 airports globally would be swamped by 2100. “If you step outside and throw a dart blindfolded, almost anything will be impacted by climate change, including airports,” said Noah Maghsadi, one of the authors. A 2019 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that sea levels could rise by about 60-110 cm if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase strongly. But even if the Paris Agreement goal to limit the planet’s temperature rise to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times is met, the researchers estimated that 44 airports in low-lying areas could be flooded by likely sea-level rise of about half a meter. “Based on this analysis, even if we do curtail climate change, adaptation still needs to happen,” said Maghsadi. Vulnerable airports also include some of the busiest in Asia and Europe, WRI said, such as Yancheng Nanyang International Airport in China’s Jiangsu Province and Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.<br/>