LISTEN: A new study published in the journal Nature Communications details the risks of sea level rise to industrial facilities including those on Georgia’s coast. GPB's Chase McGee reports.

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications details the risks of sea level rise to industrial facilities including those on Georgia’s coast.

Researchers found around one dozen industrial, production and defense facilities in Coastal Georgia at risk of flooding by 2050 in its best-case scenario, including sites in Savannah and Brunswick.

The sites include landfills, paper plants, fertilizer production facilities, and the Port of Savannah.

Dr. Sacoby Wilson is a professor of environmental health at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health, he outlines the risks these industrial and production sites can pose should they be flooded.

"So you can have both short-term effects to chemical and microbial contaminants in the floodwaters and also long-term effects to those chemical and microbial contaminants," he said. "And let me not forget mold, of course. So to those who are going back after the event can be exposed to mold that can also have respiratory effects."

The study recommends better disaster planning and mitigation strategies to reduce the risks of harm posed to people.

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