Over 46,000 Texas Homes Might be Underwater in 84 Years

Professor Robert Deconto from the University of Massachusetts along with scientist David Pollard with the Pennsylvania State University’s Earth and Environmental Systems Institute recently developed a study that states 46,800 Texas homes could be underwater by 2100.

Their paper was published in a science journal called Nature. According to Houston Agent Magazine, the article “asserts that if greenhouse gas emission rates remain constant, world ocean levels could rise more than six feet and sink approximately $882 billion in residential property by 2100. That would amount to a loss of 1.9 million homes, according to Zillow. And about 47,000 of those losses would occur in Texas.” This devastating rise of water would take out $12 billion worth of homes in the Lone Star State.

Zillow created maps of several major cities highlighting residential areas they predict would sink. Hawaii’s outlook is particularly overwhelming as Zillow reports they would lose one out of every 10 homes in the state.

Some people wonder if this is an overreaction, but University of California’s Earth Sciences Professor Eric Rignot told the Washington Post, “People should not look at this as a futuristic scenario of things that may or may not happen. They should look at it as the tragic story we are following right now. We are not there yet … [But] with the current rate of emissions, we are heading that way.”