California's wealthiest cities could soon sink under the waves of rising sea levels, according to a report predicting alarming changes throughout the US by 2050.

Researchers at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) revealed that Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Alameda are all among the coastal cities which have seen their local sea levels rise since 2018.

Rising sea levels and continued land erosion threaten to exacerbate flooding and subsidence (sinking of the ground) in these areas.

The new data showed that San Diego is experiencing the highest amount of sea level rise along the entire West Coast, rising 2.6 millimeters a year.

By 2050, all four of these cities are predicted to see their local sea levels rise several inches above the projected average for that year.

That may lead to dramatic changes along the entire California coast due to higher tides flooding out more communities, less tourism due to fewer beaches, and millions evacuated from sinking properties.

However, the new report by VIMS discovered an even more alarming forecast in several other parts of the US.

The report also found that major metropolitan areas like New York and Boston are facing even higher rates of sea level rise that threaten to reshape those cities.

In California, the sea level 'report card' adds to mounting concerns that the state is facing a climate-related emergency that threatens to cause billions in damage.

The Public Policy Institute of California noted that these changes in sea levels along the coast could lead to $18 billion worth of buildings being inundated with flood waters.

More than 26 million of California's 40 million residents live along the coast. 

In San Francisco alone, the group claims that it will cost $110 billion to properly protect the Bay Area from higher sea levels by 2050.

A study by NASA in February projected that sea levels will rise more than twice as much as previously expected in parts of San Francisco and Los Angeles by 2050.

While sea levels are actually rising at a relatively stable rate along the West Coast, researchers found that the problem is speeding up at an alarming pace in several other regions.

Molly Mitchell, an assistant professor at the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences and VIMS, revealed that Georgia and South Carolina have seen a surprising rise in local sea levels in recent years.

'We continue to see the fastest rates of sea level rise in Gulf states like Texas and Louisiana, but many of the East Coast stations are accelerating quite quickly,' Mitchell said in a statement.

The researcher added that these trends along the East Coast were likely the result of glaciers melting in the nearby Greenland ice sheet.

Overall, the new report looked at the sea level trends and projections in 36 coastal communities around the US. 

Most of the team's projections are based on 55 years worth of data on average global sea level rise.

They collected measurements from tide gauges, which are tools placed at specific coastal spots that track the ocean's height over time.

These gauges record the average sea level each month, as well as high and low water levels during events like storms.

Next, the researchers looked at how fast the sea level has been rising and whether that rise is speeding up, which they call 'acceleration.'

They also considered long-term patterns, like changes caused by climate events such as El Niño, which can affect sea levels for years.

Using all this data, they calculated trends for each location and predicted what the sea level might be in 2050. 

However, since sea levels do not rise uniformly throughout the world, they also factored in rising or sinking land and local ocean currents in these cities to make their predictions.

Their forecast specifically sounds the alarm of a future sinking crisis along the East Coast in Boston, New York, Baltimore, Charleston, and Savannah.

Each of these East Coast cities is projected to see their local sea levels rise by more than a foot by 2050. 

The predictions are even worse for the cities along the Gulf of America (formerly the Gulf of Mexico).

Researchers from VIMS warn that cities in Florida, Texas, and Louisiana could all see the height of the ocean's surface rise by more than 18 inches.

In Rockport, Texas, the report card projects that sea levels will rise by 2.49 feet by 2050.

Between the destruction of local infrastructure due to flooding and the loss of tourism due to disappearing beaches in many coastal areas, the damage in these areas could cost sinking communities tens of billions of dollars.

New Orleans, which has already been ravaged by flooding in recent decades, remains one of the most threatened areas along the Gulf.

A 2024 study published in the Hydrogeology Journal discovered that a large portion of the city and the surrounding areas are now sinking by up to two inches per year.  

Areas like New Orleans sit on soft, squishy soils (peat and clay) that sink when drained or built on.

Virginia Tech researchers found two dozen cities to be at higher risk of sinking over the next three decades.

They identified over 24 locations that are battling a combination of sinking land and rising sea levels, putting one out of every 50 residents at risk of needing to relocate.

'Many people who live near the coast want to know what they can reasonably expect over the next few decades, giving them time to make actionable plans and decisions,' Mitchell said.