FAITH AND FLOODING: How Sea Level Rise Threatens America’s Houses of Worship

The report finds that hundreds of American houses of worship face chronic flooding by 2050, with thousands more at risk by 2100 if emissions remain unchecked. It highlights the particular vulnerability of Gulf and Southeast coast states, specifically Louisiana, Florida, and North Carolina, while suggesting that deep emissions cuts and local adaptive measures could significantly reduce these risks. Additionally, it discusses the energy footprint of religious buildings and provides recommendations for improving energy efficiency and adopting renewable energy to mitigate climate change.

• Under a scenario of unchecked greenhouse gas emissions, 499 houses of worship in U.S. coastal states will be located in areas vulnerable to flooding at least once annually on average by 2050. By 2100, this number is projected to increase to 2,407 buildings.
• The impact of emissions reductions on the number of religious buildings at risk by 2100 varies by scenario: moderate cuts would reduce the total to 1,351, while deep, immediate cuts would reduce the number to 825, representing a 66 percent decrease compared to unchecked emissions.
• Louisiana is identified as the state where congregations are most vulnerable, with 88 houses of worship projected to be below the level of annual floods by 2050 under unchecked emissions. Florida and North Carolina are also noted as highly vulnerable.
• U.S. houses of worship have a significant energy footprint, consuming approximately 173 trillion British thermal units (BTUs) in 2012, which exceeds the total energy use of all U.S. buildings owned by the federal government.
• Beyond sea level rise, religious buildings are exposed to other climate-driven threats, such as wildfires in California and heavy precipitation and hurricanes in North Carolina's interior.

APA

Climate Central (2019). FAITH AND FLOODING: How Sea Level Rise Threatens America’s Houses of Worship. https://www.climatecentral.org/report/report-sea-level-rise-threatens-houses-of-worship

Chicago

Climate Central. FAITH AND FLOODING: How Sea Level Rise Threatens America’s Houses of Worship. 2019. https://www.climatecentral.org/report/report-sea-level-rise-threatens-houses-of-worship.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Central |title=FAITH AND FLOODING: How Sea Level Rise Threatens America’s Houses of Worship |date=1 May 2019 |url=https://www.climatecentral.org/report/report-sea-level-rise-threatens-houses-of-worship |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatecentral2019faith, author = {{Climate Central}}, title = {{FAITH AND FLOODING: How Sea Level Rise Threatens America’s Houses of Worship}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2019}, month = may, url = {https://www.climatecentral.org/report/report-sea-level-rise-threatens-houses-of-worship}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }