WARRENTON, Ore. -- Zillow says thousands of Oregon homes will be underwater if sea levels rise as scientists project they will.
Warrenton would be the coastal community hit the hardest. According to the Zillow study, more than 800 homes there will go underwater.
When Lynda Joiner moved into her waterfront Warrenton neighborhood a year ago, she knew she was moving into a tsunami zone.
But a rising sea level due to a changing climate was not one of her concerns.
"We're extremely happy here, we love living here," she said.
But researchers suggest folks in that community should be concerned. That's because of new findings by climate scientists studying the melting of the Antarctic ice sheet..
"One of the things they found out is there's going to be a lot larger sea level rise projected in a lot shorter time period than anyone had realized," said NOAA researcher Jen Zamon.
The scientist project a six foot rise in sea level by the year 2100.
According to Zillow, that would put more than 4,900 homes in Oregon underwater. 829 of them would be in the town of Warrenton.
Zamon lives in a home that would likely be underwater too.
She adds, the research also clearly shows we can help stop this sea level rise, by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.
"If you can slow down that temperature rise then you can slow down that melt to give people time to adapt," she said.
Karyn Grass wants her Warrenton home to be there when her grandkids get old. She says, she believes the science and thinks we all need to pay attention to it now, before it's too late.
"We can't just take our planet for granted we have to make some changes," Grass said.
According to Zillow. the other Oregon cities that would lose the most properties include Astoria, Coos Bay, Lincoln City, and Reedsport. Each would lose close to 500 properties.
The state that would lose the most properties according to Zillow? Florida, with more 900,000 homes underwater.