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Low-lying areas not lost to a rising sea will experience 

 increased flooding, for a number of reasons. The higher sea 

 level will provide a higher base on which storm surges can 

 build. Beach erosion and deeper water may allow large waves 

 to strike further inland. Finally, higher water tables will 

 decrease the land's drainage capacity, increasing runoff 

 during storms. 



Sea level rise will also cause salt water to move landward, 

 intruding into groundwaters, rivers, and estuaries. In some 

 rivers, salt may move upstream tens of kilometers. This effect 

 may alter local availability of fresh water and alter ecosystems 

 in some areas.V 



IMPACTS WILL DEPEND ON HOW PEOPLE ANTICIPATE SEA LEVEL RISE 



Economic and environmental impacts will depend on how well 

 people anticipate and plan for the physical changes associated 

 with sea level rise. As busineses, governments, and individuals 

 make decisions in coastal and low-lying areas, they have the 

 opportunity to adjust to sea level rise before it occurs, which 

 will decrease the eventual impacts of erosion, flooding, and 

 saltwater intrusion. 



Many decisions have outcomes that last long enough to be 

 affected by sea level rise, e.g., where to locate roads, 

 wastewater treatment plants, and chemical and nuclear waste 

 storage facilities. (See Table 5-1.) A coastal highway may 

 determine development patterns long after the pavement and the 

 structures along the road have been replaced. Similarly, although 

 a nuclear power plant built today may only be designed to operate 



