Research: all New York airports may be under water by 2100

Some of the busiest airports in the world may go under water by 2100. The reason is global warming, due to which the sea water level is rising. This publication writes National Postreferring to the results of a recent study.

Under threat - 80 airports in the world

An analysis by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in Washington showed that if the sea level rises by 1 meter, 2100 airports around the world will be flooded by 80. According to one of the authors of the study, Noah Maghsadi, climate change will affect New York airports as well.

The 2019 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change contains a warning that water levels could rise by about 60-110 cm. This will happen if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise sharply.

But even if the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit the increase in temperature on the planet below two degrees Celsius compared with the pre-industrial period is achieved, the researchers estimated that almost 45 airports in the low-lying areas of the world could be flooded as a result of the likely rise in sea level by about half a meter .

How to protect airports

Methods used to protect against floods include the construction of dams, sea walls and underground spaces, the analysis says. The analysis was based on data from the Climate Central research group on sea water level and OpenFlights, a company that collects and processes aviation and route data.

According to WRI, vulnerable airports include some of the busiest on the planet. For example, all three international airports in the New York area, Yangcheng Nanyang International Airport in the Chinese province of Jiangsu and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

What airports are doing to protect themselves

As the negative effects of climate change become more apparent, airport managers in coastal regions have begun to invest in various protection measures. This includes increasing runways, strengthening sea walls, and improving drainage systems to protect real estate.

For example, Singapore’s Changi Airport, which analyzed scenarios before 2100, restored the runways to improve drainage. It also builds a higher terminal at an altitude of 5,5 meters above sea level - this will protect it from rising water levels in the sea.

In recent years, flood barriers have been installed at Boston Logan Airport and San Francisco International Airport in the USA. And last month, officials approved a plan of $ 587 million to raise the sea wall of the San Francisco airport from a height of almost 1 meter to almost 3 meters.

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Extreme heat and worsening natural disasters are also cited as climate threats for airports.

"The Federal Aviation Administration, the US government agency that regulates aviation, and the New York and New Jersey Ports Authority, representing LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark airports, have not yet commented on this," the source concluded.