Maryland has seen a significant increase in flooding and sea-level rise over the past two decades.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Maryland has seen increases in precipitation, sea-level rise, and flooding between 2000-2020. Rainfall increased by 2.63 inches per decade and some studies predict the Chesapeake rising by over two feet by 2050.
According to the Baltimore Fishbowl:
“There’s a lot of moving parts to this,” said Greg Carbin, the chief of forecast operations at the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. “The stage is set to support very heavy precip[itation]. Similar to what we saw … in the New York City area with the remains of Hurricane Ida, rainfall rates of three, four inches an hour, there’s very few cities that can sustain an event like that without having some impact.”
Cities like Baltimore and Annapolis have seen a significant sea-level rise over the past two decades; with levels rising but .28 millimeters and .33 millimeters respectively. Globally levels have risen 87.6 millimeters between 1993 and 2019. Experts warn that the continued rise in sea level will need to be considered when planning new structures and development.