Presently, we are focused on migration of refugees from war and issues of statelessness. As this piece warns, we soon will be seeing refugees from sea level rise.

Emerging threats- As a rising tide of migration. Two excerpts:

With sea levels on the rise, several island nations are scrambling to stay above water and ensure citizens will have a place to go when the ocean engulfs their homeland. The humanitarian-crisis phase of climate change has officially begun.
In total, climate change may displace up to a quarter-billion people by 2050, according to research cited by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. That means, within our lifetimes, climate change could become a human rights emergency that grinds global governance to a halt. How the global community chooses to address this seemingly inevitable problem will help define international relations for the rest of this century.”

From the Homeland Security New Wire, this article on possible natural changes that might occur: Up to 70 percent of Northeast U.S. coast likely to adapt to rising seas.

Much of the coast from Maine to Virginia is more likely to change than to simply drown in response to rising seas during the next seventy years or so, according to a new study led by the U.S. Geological Survey. The study is based on a new computer model that captures the potential of the Northeast coast to change, driven by geological and biological forces, in ways that will reshape coastal landscapes.

New tool for coastal planners preparing for sea level rise

Scientists have developed a new model to help coastal planners assess the risks of sea level rise. Put to use on a global scale, it estimates that the oceans will rise at least twenty-eight centimeters on average by the end of this century — and as much as 131 cm if greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow unchecked.

From an article in Al Jazeera: Tidal floods: Coming soon to an East Coast city near you. Climate change causing higher sea levels that could soon inundate much of America’s waterfront real estate.

Many major American coastal cities will face a huge surge in the number of tidal floods they experience as sea levels rise due to climate change, a new report has warned.

The study, conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), covered 52 American cities stretching from Portland, Maine, to Freeport, Texas, and predicted a dramatic increase in flood events linked to high tides over the next few decades.

According to the UCS report, over half of the cities surveyed in the study will see triple the amount of tidal floods in the next 15 years than they do at present. In three decades, when sea levels are expected to rise by at least one foot, nine of the locations are projected to see a ten-fold increase to about 240 floods yearly.

The original study is titled Encroaching Tides How Sea Level Rise and Tidal Flooding Threaten U.S.East and Gulf Coast Communities over the Next 30 Years. Both the full report (72 pages) and an executive summary are available from this site.

From the Urban Land Institute, Boston chapter, a new report titled
The Urban Implications of Living With Water; report is 52 pages.

From the Executive Summary:

How does one protect and enhance the value of a real estate asset, community, and infrastructure as the climate changes and sea levels rise?

For those interested in what some of the major cities concerned with sea level rise are doing, here are some sites from the City of Boston regarding their efforts in Boston Harbor.

See the Boston Harbor Association site, which is the source of their new report titled Designing With Water. Both an executive summary (18 pages) and a full text report (72 pp) are available there.