Long-term sea level rise set in motion by near-term carbon emissions threatens major coastal cities across the world.<\/p>\n
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Here we present paired images showing how iconic locations — in London, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Durban and New York — could fare under scenarios of business as usual vs. a sharp transition to clean energy. <\/p>\n
In the first image for each pair, we show projections of post-2100 sea level rise that could be locked in following 4°C (7.2°F) of warming from carbon pollution in the coming decades. This pathway corresponds roughly to business as usual<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the second image, we show projections based on 2°C (3.6°F) of warming from carbon pollution. This degree of warming corresponds to the target limit widely discussed today as the threshold to avoid catastrophic climate change — and officially designated as part of the Cancun Agreement, signed in 2010 by international delegates gathered under the umbrella of the United Nations.<\/p>\n In December, a major new round of global climate talks is being held in Paris. The decisions reached there may have a strong bearing on which of these two scenarios the future looks like most.<\/p>\n Projections of locked-in sea level come from our peer-reviewed research<\/a> published October 12 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A.<\/em> A special Climate Central-led report<\/a>, published November 9, describes the application of those projections to global elevation data for making the maps upon which these images are based.<\/p>\n The same maps are displayed at Mapping Choices<\/a>, our interactive tool that allow users to explore the possible consequences of 4°C warming, 2°C warming, or other temperature or carbon emission scenarios, for any coastal city or postal code around the world.<\/p>\n The images were created by visual artist Nickolay Lamm<\/a> based on Climate Central’s sea level map data – more<\/a><\/p>\n