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Sea-level rise threatens NASA facilities

APR 05, 2016
Physics Today

New York Times : NASA owns about $32 billion worth of structures and facilities in the US. Roughly two-thirds of the land it manages is within 4.8 m of mean sea level—including Johnson Space Center in Texas, Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Ames Research Center near San Francisco Bay, and, of course, Kennedy Space Center in Florida. According to the agency’s Climate Adaptation Science Investigators working group, sea-level rise by 2050 could cause those facilities significant problems, including regular flooding and increased damage from hurricanes. The agency has already spent $3 million repairing protective dunes around Kennedy Space Center, but longer-term plans for relocating and protecting facilities will likely reach into the billions.

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