Interactive pictures visualise the threat of global warming

London with a rise in sea level after a 4°C rise of global temperature (CLIMATE CENTRAL)

Thanks to Climate Central for these extraordinary pictures! They visualise the impacts of global warming for world-famous cities. You can see yourself what happens with coastal cities like London, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Durban and New York.

According to a report published by Climate Central, 470 to 760 million people can lose their home globally because of a rise in sea level due to 4 °C of global warming. If we emitate carbon dioxide as usual, the global warming effect will change the world’s coastel cities in a dramatic way. The report ‘MAPPING CHOICES’ builds closely on a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA in October 2015. That research used relationships between cumulative carbon emissions, warming, and the future global sea level rise they lock in to assess implications for the United States and its cities.

Carbon pollution casts a long shadow. Very likely they persist in the atmosphere long enough to prolong temperature increases for thousands of years, long after human beings stop burning fossil fuels or clearing forests. According to Climate Central, China hast the most to lose from business as usual. 145 million citizens today on implicated land are risked. China also has the most to gain from limiting warming to 2 °C. It could cut the total to 64 million. India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, the United States, Philippines, Egypt, Brazil and Thailand have more than 10 million people each living on implicated land under 4 °C warming.

But better convince yourself and take a look at the interactive pictures below.

Climate Central has extended its interactive and embeddable Mapping Choices platform globally. Users can now type in any coastal city name or postal code worldwide, and visually compare the potential consequences of different warming or emissions scenarios on a local map. Climate Central is also serving Google Earth layers for visualizing sea levels associated with 2 °C or 4 °C warming in areas with 3-D building data.

About Climate Central

Climate Central surveys and conducts scientific research on climate change and informs the public of key findings. The scientists publish and the journalists report on climate science, energy, sea level rise, wildfires, drought, and related topics. According to Climate Central, they are not an advocacy organisation and do not lobby, and do not support any specific legislation, policy or bill. Climate Central is a qualified tax-exempt organization. They also investigate and synthesize weather and climate data and science to equip local communities and media with the tools they need.