How will rising sea levels change California? Look at Florida to find out [Video]

From the California’s Pacific, to Florida’s Gulf of Mexico, the sea is rising and becoming an increasing threat to communities that have settled along the water’s edge.

An

NOAA report

projects an average of 10-12 inches of sea level rise along the U.S. coastline over the next 30 years. If emission trends continue, that number could hover between 3.5 to 7 feet by the end of the century.

Of course, the numbers vary depending on land and ocean height. The West Coast could see between 4 and 8 inches of sea level rise by 2050.

Californians lucked out with a climate pattern called the “Pacific Decadal Oscillation”, which kept the sea tame early on in the state’s development and invited settlement along the state’s seacliffs and bluffs.

But take one look at the Gulf, and you’ll realize Californians would likely have settled the coast regardless.

Davis Islands, an affluent community just south of …