The ice sheet that covered North America during the last interglacial period may have lasted longer than previously thought, which could spell trouble for New York City in a warming world. (Image credit: Photo collage by Marilyn Perkins; images by Chaiwat Chantananukul and Evgeniy Skripnichenko via Getty Images)
On October 29, 2012, Superstorm Sandy battered New York City with a 14-foot (4-meter) wave of seawater. Regionally, the storm killed 147 people, caused $50 billion in damage, and opened a window into the future.
By mid-century, such floods could become commonplace.
While the Statue of Liberty probably won't be flooded, low-lying areas like Ellis Island could be underwater. By 2100, sea level rise could reach the same level as Hurricane Sandy's peak in 2012. The New York-based Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) projects sea level rise of 2.5 feet (0.76 m) by the 2050s and 9.5 feet (3 m) by 2100.
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However, new data from Earth's historical past suggests that such dire predictions are entirely plausible and may even be conservative estimates.
About 2.6 million years ago, the planet entered the Quaternary period, characterized by alternating glacial and interglacial periods
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