Boston has launched a plan to prevent flooding in its most vulnerable waterfront neighbourhoods, becoming the latest US city to respond to the threat of rising sea levels.
Released last week, the coastal Massachusetts city's climate change plan outlines strategies to protect the neighbourhoods of East Boston and Charlestown from an increased likelihood of flooding.
These areas are at particularly high risk due to low-lying pathways that lead directly down to the edge of Boston harbour. Both are predicted to frequently experience coastal flooding.
Boston's climate change strategy focuses on two of the city's most vulnerable coastal neighbourhoods, including Charlestown
The Coastal Resilience Solutions For East Boston and Charlestown report outlines an urban development plan to block floodways into the neighbourhoods as soon as possible. It comes in the wake of series of drastic and unpredictable weather events in the US, including hurricanes that devastated cities in Florida and Texas, which called for changes in urban planning. San Francisco and the Bay Area recently launched a design competition asking for ways to protect coastal areas from rising sea levels, as well as earthquakes, while New York City and Miami are also taking steps to address flooding.
Strategies to protect the vulnerable neighbourhood include barricading its waterfront with elevated pathways and parks
"Climate change is here," said Boston city mayor Martin J Walsh. "It's happening now. T...