Rising Seas Threaten to Flood NASA Launch Sites Mexico News.Net
go to original September 8, 2015

Rising Seas Threaten to Flood Launch Sites, NASA Says (wochit News)

Rising sea levels along the US coastlines have threatened NASA's launch sites and facilities - including Kennedy Space Center in Florida - of being submersed under the water in near future.

Nearly half to two-thirds of NASA's infrastructure and assets stand within 16 feet of sea level.

With at least $32 billion in laboratories, launch pads, airfields, testing facilities, data centres and other infrastructure spread out across 850 sq. km with 60,000 employees - the US space agency has a lot of people and property in harm's way.

"Every NASA centre has its own set of vulnerabilities, and some are more at risk than others. But sea level rise is a very real challenge for all of the centres along the coast," said NASA climatologist Cynthia Rosenzweig in a statement.

As the ocean has warmed, polar ice has melted, and porous landmasses have subsided, global mean sea level has risen by eight inches (20 centimetres) since 1870.

The rate of sea level rise is faster now than at any time in the past 2,000 years, and that rate has doubled in the past two decades.

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