About every 20 years, the moon shifts slightly on its axis as it orbits the Earth.
A NASA study warns that wobble, in combination with climate change and sea-level rise could significantly increase high-tide flooding across the globe and here in Louisiana.
“It’s a relatively small shift that has a relatively large impact on the tides that we see here on Earth,” Ben Hamlington said.
Hamlington heads up Nasa’s Sea Level Change Team.
“We’re seeing some flooding occur in coastal Louisiana,” Hamlington said. “But when you have this inflection, it’s going to be a significant increase in the order of 2, 3, 4 times what we’re seeing now into the coming decade.”
That’s not what Terry Wallace in Venetian Isles wants to hear.
His coastal community near the banks of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne floods easily, even during a heavy rainstorm.
“When we have westward winds it just constantly blows in,” Wallace said. “The water just kind of come up a little bit here and there. Last year was pretty bad. We had I think six events when that happened to us.”
Wallace fears if there is additional flooding in the years to come, water could get into his house.
“Everything that came up last year was about 3 or 4 feet from getting into my house,” Wallace said. “Anything that’s going to generate more water coming up is going to be a problem for the people in the neighborhood.”
The NASA study predicts flooding will sometimes occur in clusters, lasting a month or longer in the 2030s and some cities may see high water every day or two.
“It’s going to be a dramatic shift, not just for the Louisiana coastline, but for the entirety of the United States,” Hamlington said.
“Something that simple, just a wobble in the moon that can bring the water up like that, that’s just amazing to me,” Wallace said.
NASA scientists say the intent of the study is not to scare people.
But to give community leaders an early warning to possibly speed up the construction of flood control structures.