How Does Climate Change Create Vulnerability?
Climate change is creating vulnerability. Sewage treatment plants are susceptible to major failures and overflows because of rising seas, more intense coastal storms, and increased heavy precipitation events. In 2012, Climate Central’s comprehensive analysis of sea level rise, stated more than two-thirds of costal locations in the U.S. will be affected by global warming that has more than doubled the chances of a hundred year storm surge occurring within the next year. (Hurricane Sandy) The higher the seas rise, the more storms that will overwhelm costal sewage treatment systems, resulting in colossal overflows of partially or untreated sewage into surrounding lakes and rivers. These surrounding infiltrated lakes and rivers are crucial for
cities as water sources. This water is what millions of people rely on for food, health, and recreation. (Hurricane) As sea levels rise, so does the baseline which then leads to the reduction in the level of intensity necessary for storm surges to devastate costal infrastructure. San Francisco Bay Area has twenty-two wastewater treatment plants on the shoreline that are vulnerable to a 1.4 meter rise in sea level. (America Infrastructure) California has predicted a 1.4-meter rise in sea levels by 2100. Germany estimates a one-meter rise while the Dutch, who are extremely vulnerable to sea level rise, expect a 1.1-meter rise by 2100. (Africa) Climate Central estimates that as many as 3,070 wastewater treatment facilities in the coastal Northeast and Florida will be vulnerable to coastal flooding by the end of the century in the National Climate Assessment’s worst-case scenario for ice-cap melting. (America Infrastructure) Most of these sewage treatment plants lack the capacity to handle current storms, meaning sewage spills will most likely become a frequent event.
cities as water sources. This water is what millions of people rely on for food, health, and recreation. (Hurricane) As sea levels rise, so does the baseline which then leads to the reduction in the level of intensity necessary for storm surges to devastate costal infrastructure. San Francisco Bay Area has twenty-two wastewater treatment plants on the shoreline that are vulnerable to a 1.4 meter rise in sea level. (America Infrastructure) California has predicted a 1.4-meter rise in sea levels by 2100. Germany estimates a one-meter rise while the Dutch, who are extremely vulnerable to sea level rise, expect a 1.1-meter rise by 2100. (Africa) Climate Central estimates that as many as 3,070 wastewater treatment facilities in the coastal Northeast and Florida will be vulnerable to coastal flooding by the end of the century in the National Climate Assessment’s worst-case scenario for ice-cap melting. (America Infrastructure) Most of these sewage treatment plants lack the capacity to handle current storms, meaning sewage spills will most likely become a frequent event.