Impacts from climate change are not always easy to see. But for many local businesses in coastal communities across the United States, the evidence is right outside their doors – or in their parking lots.
Impacts from climate change are not always easy to see. But for many local businesses in coastal communities across the United States, the evidence is right outside their doors – or in their parking lots.
That evidence isn’t just present in the form of more frequent flooding. According to a new study published Feb. 15 in the journal Science Advances, it is also revealed as a financial price for business. Stanford graduate student Miyuki Hino and her colleagues found that downtown Annapolis, Maryland’s state capital, suffered a loss of 3,000 visits in 2017 due to high-tide flooding, which equates to a loss of somewhere between $86,000 and $172,000 in revenue.
“Small businesses in downtown Annapolis rely on visitors. By measuring the extent of the impact of flooding, we can understand the business case – how sea level rise is already impacting businesses’ experiences and profits,” said Samanthe Belanger, a co-author and Stanford MBA student at the time of the study.
Read more at Stanford University
Image: Storm surge floods Dock Street in downtown Annapolis, Maryland. (Credit: Matt Rath/Chesapeake Bay Program)
