By Kemila Chasva and Hannah Khanshali

Climate Change in NYC: The Rising Seas’ Impact on New Yorkers and Daily Commutes Campaign

Hannah C. Khanshali, Kemila Chasva Department of English, The City College of New York ENGL 21003: Writing for The Sciences
Prof. Caitlin Geoghan

Climate change has become an urgent and pressing issue worldwide due to its detrimental impact on our livelihood. Resulting from the release of anthropogenic carbon dioxide as a product of the combustion of fossil fuels, rising sea levels is one of the effects that will significantly impact infrastructure in New York City. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), rising sea levels is caused by two factors: one, the melting of glaciers and ice sheets which is adding more water to the ocean, and two, as the ocean waters warm, they expand in volume (NOAA, 2021). Since New York is a coastal city, rising sea levels most definitely pose a threat to the city’s infrastructures, such as subways, tunnels, bridges, houses, and buildings. The sea levels on New York’s coast have already risen a foot since 1900 (Department of Environmental Conservation, 2014). A foot may not seem much but take into account that this occurred within 120 years and that foot is slowly increasing. It is projected that in 29 years, 37% of buildings in lower Manhattan will be at risk from storm surge. Even then, storm surge effects have already been felt by New Yorkers, especially during Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy unveiled how vulnerable NYC, especially Lower Manhattan. The extreme coastal flooding during Hurricane Sandy negatively affected about 400 buildings and over 21,000 homes (EDC 2019). There was exceptional damage to subways and other transportation modes, power supply, and water/sewer systems in Lower Manhattan. The amount of stormwater and sewage during Sandy overwhelmed the NYC wastewater treatment system; the EDC notes in their Climate Resilience Study (2019) that this caused “5.2 billion gallons of untreated or partially treated sewage to be discharged into the City’s waterways” (p.13). This is a concerning matter that needs to be addressed. We need to start somewhere; the public needs to understand the severity of global warming has on the city since we profoundly rely on public transportation to get to places in the city.

The type of media our group has decided on is a public announcement campaign, preferably an ad on the subway/ bus to inform commuters on the rising issue. The target audience for this issue and information are New York commuters and residents that take NYC subways or any form of NYC public transportation. The campaign will advocate for spreading the issue surrounding climate change and how it can affect New Yorkers. The average weekday subway and bus ridership, according to the MTA, in New York City in 2019 is 5,881,950 (“Subway and Bus”). The number of commuters on the average day that pour into Manhattan doubles Manhattan’s population from 1.6 million to 3.1 million (2018). With the increasing number of people using public transportation to get to places, the best option is to use transportation modes. People will eventually eye the campaign and get informed on the issue. The genres used for effective communication appeal to the eye and are straightforward to the issue. We included pictures that show the potential of what rising sea levels can lead to in public transportation. Some aspects relate to New York; this includes pictures of Lady Liberty and locations in our city. In the campaign, we have also listed the solutions necessary to combat rising sea levels, ranging from what we can do from home and what the individual can do themself. In closing, as this would severely impact commuters, the most effective form of communication to the commuters is where they rely on the most and would most likely be on the way to their destination.

As time progresses, climate change and the issues that stem from it are continuously becoming worse. Rising sea levels will be detrimental to New York and its infrastructure, changing New Yorkers’ daily lives. Commuters and New York residents must be aware of these issues and fight for legislation to mitigate climate change and the after-effects to ensure all New Yorkers’ safety. With the concern of rising sea levels in New York City, there is a demand for involvement from New York City residents in reducing the chances of rising sea levels. The future of rising sea levels occurring in the city is inevitable; however, there are ways to prevent and reduce those chances. A multitude of resources is available for the public on how to combat the rising sea level. There are many natural disasters like floods, drought, and heavy rain that are caused due to climate change in addition to agriculture and food production. With the interference of the ability to use these modes of transportation and bridges/ tunnels, New Yorkers won’t be able to make it to places like schools and jobs. Without it, the economy may take a hit which will eventually affect the global economy due to many financial companies headquartered in New York.

References

EDC NYC. (2019, March). Lower Manhattan Climate Resilience Study. Retrieved March 2021.

https://edc.nyc/sites/default/files/filemanager/Projects/LMCR/Final_Image/Lower_Manh attan_Climate_Resilience_March_2019.pdf

EDC NYC. (n.d.). Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency. (March 22, 2021) https://edc.nyc/project/lower-manhattan-coastal-resiliency

NOAA Climate.gov. Future Flood Zones for New York City. (2014, March 18).  https://www.climate.gov/news-features/featured-images/future-flood-zones-new-york-ciy.

LIRR Continues on Modified Schedule Friday, Nov. 9. MTA. (n.d.). https://www.mta.info/news/2012/10/30/lirr-continues-modified-schedule-friday-nov-9.