Protecting the South Bronx From a Flooded Future
Mott Haven Herald
By: Liya Cui
In the wake of torrential rains that have put much of the city on flood watch and disrupted travel in parts of the Bronx, the threat of flooding is increasingly affecting New Yorkers—and it may get worse due to climate change.
A warmer planet also means a wetter planet. A warming atmosphere will hold and dump more water, while warmer oceans create sea level rise and more intense storms and hurricanes. Heavy rain events are expected to increase by two to three times the historical average by the end of the century, according to a federal Climate Science Special Report released in 2017.
Bronx County has an extreme risk of flooding over the next 30 years, according to Risk Factor, a tool created by non-profit First Street Foundation to measure the projected effects of climate change across the country.
