Will Wall Street need a wall to keep sea back?

Wall Street once had a wall running along its length to keep Dutch-owned New Amsterdam safe from those nasty invading British troops - that’s how it got its name.

Now it is the centre of American finance, but it may become necessary to build a new wall, not to keep out us pesky Brits, but to hold back the rising sea.

Areas of lower Manhattan in New York City are only 5 feet above sea level and will suffer from 14 to 20 inches increase by 2100, said climate experts at Florida State University, Michael Schlesinger, Ronald Stouffer and Jianjun Yin.

Surges from winter storms and hurricanes will mean a higher risk of damage.

The same increase will be seen in Washington, D.C and Boston.

The recently published study says that the northeast of the US will experience twice the increase in sea levels of other parts of the country.

Half as big an increase in sea level is expected in other cities, such as San Francisco and Miami.

The researchers found that the United States northeast coast is a very susceptible area to upcoming ocean circulation and sea level changes, particularly because of its high population and the prospective economic and social cost of such variations.

The influence of a melting Greenland ice sheet is not included in the study.

The waning of the Gulf Stream during future decades in the North Atlantic is a principal cause of the expected greater rise in sea levels in the Northeast.

Climate analysis forecasts that climate change will decrease the sinking of the cold water that drives the Gulf Stream.

Consequently, the ocean depths of the North Atlantic, Yin said, will start warming.

As it warms, it will expand, increasing the sea level rise in addition to the effect of melting ice.

Postdoctoral researcher from the University of California, Julien Boé, said that his group forecasts that during September the Arctic Ocean will be free of ice by as soon as 2100.

Experts believe such analyses are crucial for preparations for the likely destruction caused by increasing world temperatures.

Other research predicates that coastal states of the US will experience a 30% higher sea level when the enormous ice sheets covering West Antarctica thaw.

University of Arizona’s Jonathan Overpeck said the country’s shorelines could not cope with an additional 8 inches of storm height caused by increased sea levels.