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Network cables are plugged in a server room on November 10, 2014 in New York City.
- Researchers predict that more than 4,000 miles of internet cable will be permanently flooded in the next 15 years.
- New York, Miami, and Seattle are most vulnerable to infrastructure damage.
- Scientists expect AT&T, Inteliquent, and CenturyLink to be hit the hardest because they have the most infrastructure in coastal areas.
More than 4,000 miles of internet cable are projected to go underwater in the next 15 years, and Americans living in New York, Miami, and Seattle are most vulnerable to related infrastructure damage, a team of researchers found.
Scientists at the University of Oregon and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who presented their study at a July conference, concluded that more than 1,000 data centers, which store servers and routers, could be damaged due to floods.
Climate change is steadily causing sea levels to rise, which in turn can lead to widespread flooding.
Sea levels are projected to rise by one foot in the next 15 years, which would have a devastating effect on internet infrastructure, the study's authors wrote. Although internet cables were designed to be water-resistant, they aren't waterproof.
Among individual service providers, the researchers expect Dallas-based AT&T, Chicago-based Inteliquent, and CenturyLink of Monroe, Louisiana to be at highest risk for damage because they have the most infrastructure in coastal areas.
"We believe that these results highlight a real and present threat to the management and operations of communications systems and that steps should be taken soon to develop plans to address this threat," the study's authors wrote.
The study was based on two datasets: projections of sea level rise by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and maps of US internet infrastructure.