5 Major Cities Threatened by Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a special report on the social and economic consequences of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming compared to 2 degrees Celsius. Changing the temperature in your home by one or two degrees may not seem like a big deal, but when temperatures change across the globe by that much, major cities will be threatened by sea level rise, and millions of people will be uprooted from their homes. Climate scientists recently released a study indicating that if emissions aren’t reduced, sea levels may rise up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) by 2100. This much sea level rise could submerge land currently home to more than 153 million people. The study, led by Robert Kopp of Rutgers University, Lab co-director, and co-authored by scientists at Climate Central, looked at how the break-up of Antarctic ice sheets could cause sea level to rise even faster than previous estimates.