“Nuisance flooding” is a term for minor flooding that is not catastrophic or life-threatening, but which causes various problems for cities and towns, including overflowing storm water management systems, roads that must be closed to traffic, and deterioration of infrastructure not designed to be under water and in contact with salt-water. Much has been written in recent years about climate-related sea level rise, but a study released this July by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, focuses on the impacts of sea level rise as manifested in increasing frequency and magnitude of nuisance tidal flooding – and the findings are dramatic. Titled “Sea Level Rise and Nuisance Flood Frequency Changes Around the United States,” the report shows that nuisance flooding occurs much more frequently today than in the 1960s – in fact, 300 to 925 percent more frequently. Professor Schofer discusses this important topic with the lead author of that report, William Sweet, oceanographer at NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services