With rising sea levels more coastal communities are coming to terms with the long-term effects of hotter global temperatures.

By Madison Margolin, Correspondent / May 18, 2016

New Orleans is sinking, according to a study using NASA airborne radar. The subsidence, or sinking rates, of the city and surrounding areas is caused by naturally occurring geologic and human-caused processes. According to this latest study, subsidence is happening at higher rates than what previous data has shown using different kinds of radar, which before had been lower resolution and not as spatially extensive.

The study took place from June 2009 to July 2012 and was a joint effort by scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.; University of California, Los Angeles; and the Center for GeoInformatics at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge.

"Agencies can use these data to more effectively implement actions to remediate and reverse the effects of subsidence, improving the long-term coastal resiliency and sustainability of New Orleans," said Cathleen Jones, Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist and author. "The more recent land elevation change rates from this study will be used to inform flood modeling and response strategies, improving public safety."

SNIP