Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
Melting glaciers and warmer oceans will contribute to devastating sea-level rise in the next 80 years. If the worst-case projections are correct, US cities like San Francisco and New York - and their famous landmarks - could be underwater by 2100.
The more scientists study sea-level rise, the more daunting their predictions for coastal cities become.
A few years ago, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted that the world's sea levels would rise an additional 3 feet by 2100. But earlier this week, a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences more than doubled this worst-case estimate, predicting that sea levels could rise by around 6.5 feet in the same time frame.
For coastal cities like New York and San Francisco, this spells bad news for low-lying waterfront neighborhoods - and the many landmarks within them.
Advertisement
Climate Central's Google Earth plug-in shows what US cities would look like in the most extreme cases of sea-level rise. The tool estimates which areas of cities could be underwater by 2100 if sea levels were to rise by 8 feet - the worst-case projection from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency data.
Here are the major US cities and landmarks that could be underwater in 80 years.
No city is immune to the consequences of a warming world, but a few are more vulnerable than the rest. Sea-level rise is a considerable threat in San Francisco, for example, where some land has begun to sink due to excessive groundwater pumping.
Construction workers are still putting the finishing touches on Manhattan's World Trade Center complex, which likely won't be complete for another few years.
Boston's historical North End would cease to exist by 2100.
A 2016 Zillow report found that one out of every six homes in Boston could be underwater by 2100. The report used NOAA's conservative estimates (6 feet of sea level rise).
Extreme projections of sea-level rise put the city's historic Faneuil Hall underwater, along with other parts of the Freedom Trail.
The NOAA estimates suggest that Boston will almost certainly see at least one flood with a depth of 6 feet or more by 2050.
A number of Washington, DC monuments are in danger, too.
Most neighborhoods in Charleston, South Carolina, could be underwater by 2100. That includes Fort Sumter, the site where the American Civil War began in 1861.
More than a decade ago, the Charleston City Paper predicted that the city could become "a half-drowned ghost town" by 2050. Under 12 feet of sea level rise, the paper reported, around 77% of the Charleston could be underwater.
Around 64,000 of Charleston's residents are at risk of coastal flooding in the next 100 years.
Most of Atlantic City, New Jersey (along with parts of New York City) wound up underwater during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The projections for 2100 are far worse.
Hurricane Sandy left around 70% to 80% of Atlantic City underwater at the height of the storm. In some places, residents had to wade through water as deep as 8 feet.
The city's boardwalk, which includes the 1,000-foot-long Steel Pier amusement park, could be submerged 80 years from now.
Research from Climate Central suggests that 37,000 people are at risk of coastal flooding in Atlantic City in the next century.
New Orleans is no stranger to the problems that come with sea-level rise. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina's storm surge flooded 80% of the city.
The state of Florida is especially vulnerable to rising seas. If all of Greenland's ice were to melt at once, the water would submerge everything south of West Palm Beach.
But even if Greenland's ice sheet remains intact, NOAA anticipates that Palm Beach, Florida could be wholly underwater by 2100.
