Reid Cummings isn't an environmentalist.

He's not a climatologist or even an activist.

What he knows is real estate. And he knows for certain that rising sea levels are bad for business. And he is concerned.

Cummings, a professor of finance and real estate at the University of South Alabama and interim assistant dean for Financial Affairs, said data shows that the seas have risen and fallen for the last millennia, long before the words global warming were first uttered.

The most recent charts, culled from the last 150 years or so, show the same.

"The data is there, and it does suggest the trend is moving higher," Cummings said. "Over time, that's a significant problem."

In February United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that global sea levels have risen faster since 1900 than over any previous century. He called the rising waters "a death sentence" for low-lying, vulnerable nations.

National Geographic reports that sea levels have swelled over 8 inches since 1880, with three of those inches gained in the last 25 years. Every year, the report says, the sea rises another .13 inches. Research published in February 2022 projects sea levels to rise by a foot by 2050.

That means there will be as much sea level rise in the next 30 years as occurred over the last century.

Cummings said with 40% of all U.S. residents living in coastal counties across the nation, the potential threat can't be disregarded. Earlier this month, he sat on a panel of presenters who discussed the possible impacts of sea rise on the Gulf Coast.

"It is a significant problem. The potential for economic loss is real, and I think policy makers and planners should not ignore this," he said.

Cummings said he knows the idea of rising sea levels is intertwined with debates and strong opinions about climate change. He suggests that emotions be set aside and the science itself be considered.

"What I want you to think about with an open mind is the possibility of: what if they are right?" Cummings said. "Think of it this way: anyone who has grandkids, think about your grandkids. What if they're right? Shouldn't we at least consider it? That's my perspective."

Rising sea levels have already encroached in low lying communities in Asia where the United Nations warns that nearly 900 million people could eventually be displaced by rising waters.

But the issue is not regional, it's global.

National Geographic reports that damaging flooding for the U.S. East and Gulf coasts will happen 10 more times than it does today by 2050.

Rising sea levels, even in small increments, can cause destructive erosion, wetland flooding and contaminate inland water and soil with salt that destroys habitats for fish, birds and plants.

Higher sea levels also mean more dangerous hurricanes with powerful storm surges that do more damage. A recent study cited by National Geographic found that between 1963 and 2012, almost half of all deaths from Atlantic hurricanes were caused by storm surge.

The direct impact of sea level rise can already be found locally in the rising cost of insurance paid by coastal property owners.

If science is correct, the direct impact to Baldwin and Mobile counties will only become worse.

So, what do people living along the Gulf Coast do?

Cummings said they plan.

"We need to consider everything. I think it is important for this region to not get into a policy debate. Is it real or not real, who cares?" Cummings said. "If it could happen, shouldn't we absolutely have a conversation about it?"

Cummings said there are currently 17 coastal cities in the U.S. with populations over 1 million. He is hopeful that policy makers in those cities will set aside emotion and consider the what ifs.

"Maybe we can have more of these conversations and forums where we raise public awareness and motivate people to make informed decisions," he said. "It is important for any meaningful conversation to take place that we acknowledge the emotion and potential for divisiveness along an ideological spectrum that needs to be set aside for the sake of conversation. We can agree that we have different opinions. Now let's be practical. If the science is right, what then?

"It seems the commonsense approach to tackling a problem that is so big, broad and hairy that we can't begin to imagine its impact is that we've got to find a way to have a sensible conversation. As a region, maybe we need to work together to acknowledge there are some things we can't agree on and focus on hopefully making some good decisions."