But not always good for humans.

By Terrence McCoy February 25 at 3:34 AM
@terrence_mccoy

Several years ago, in 2009 and 2010, a string of unexplained floods and unusually high tides struck the East Coast. There was no easy explanation. No hurricane. No winter storm. But the waters kept spilling across the shoreline, from North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras to Canada.

The cause of that phenomenon may now have finally been found. Sea levels from New York to Newfoundland were undergoing an “extreme” surge unlike any other in recorded history, according to a new study in Nature Communications published this week. Calling the phenomenon “unprecedented” and “very unusual,” oceans along the East Coast rose roughly four inches between 2009 and 2010 in a rapid spike researchers compared to a “1-in-850 year event.”

“This is a very extreme event,” Jianjun Yin of the University of Arizona told The Washington Post in a phone interview. “The sea level has since dropped after that spike, but it is still much higher than it was when the spike began in 2009. … Global warming definitely contributed to this event.”

But global warming wasn’t the sole culprit. The study suggested a change in ocean currents coupled with persistent winds that pushed water into the region caused the spike — which may be the first of many. The seas are rising, Yin told The Post, but the ascent isn’t smooth or even. The mechanics of sea rise aren’t dissimilar to temperatures rising during spring. During some years, the weather gets warmer faster — but the general trend is upward.