2 00:00:06,262 --> 00:00:16,500 There are two ways that the rise in sea level can affect people on the ground. 4 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:23,970 One is low-lying areas where the surface is very close to sea level. 5 00:00:23,970 --> 00:00:27,410 There's a gradient in the water in the 6 00:00:27,410 --> 00:00:31,270 soil, between fresh water that comes from rainfall that 7 00:00:31,270 --> 00:00:33,260 can be used to feed the crops, 8 00:00:33,260 --> 00:00:37,750 versus salty water that's encroaching from the ocean. 9 00:00:37,750 --> 00:00:39,970 If you raise the sea level and you bring this 10 00:00:39,970 --> 00:00:43,720 salty water too close to the surface, you can poison the agriculture. 11 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:45,805 There are islands in the Pacific, 12 00:00:45,805 --> 00:00:51,620 low-lying islands that are making plans to evacuate in the coming years, 13 00:00:51,620 --> 00:00:57,090 because their agriculture is no longer possible, because of salt encroachment. 14 00:00:57,090 --> 00:01:00,520 But a more dramatic impact of sea-level rise comes during 15 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:06,000 storms which tend to pull the sea level up. 16 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:07,300 It's called a storm surge. 17 00:01:07,300 --> 00:01:10,508 It's like a really high tide that follows a hurricane. 18 00:01:10,508 --> 00:01:20,870 Hurricane Sandy, for example, in New York, had sea level 20 00:01:20,870 --> 00:01:27,290 higher than it would have, if global sea level hadn't been rising 21 00:01:27,290 --> 00:01:28,490 over the last few decades. 22 00:01:28,490 --> 00:01:31,030 What's important is when the 23 00:01:31,030 --> 00:01:34,260 sea level crosses some critical height, where suddenly 24 00:01:34,260 --> 00:01:38,640 it can spill over a levee, or flood the subways, or something like that. 25 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:45,290 The rise in the background sea level coupled with storms 27 00:01:45,290 --> 00:01:48,910 that seem to be increasing in their severity, which we'll talk about next, 28 00:01:48,910 --> 00:01:52,264 can multiply each other, to exacerbate 29 00:01:52,264 --> 00:01:55,780 the impact of rising sea level.