Sea-Level Rise Would Be Worse for Coastal Cities Than Previously Thought

"Rising seas could affect three times more people by 2050 than previously thought, according to new research, threatening to all but erase some of the world’s great coastal cities," report Denise Lu and Christopher Flavelle.

Scott A. Kulp and Benjamin H. Strauss, researchers from Climate Central, published the new findings on the elevations of sea-level rise in the journal Nature Communications. According to the model produced in the study, 630 million people live in land below elevations projected for annual floods in the year 2100. "We estimate one billion people now occupy land less than 10 m above current high tide lines, including 250 M below 1 m," reads the study's abstract.

The article provides illustrations of the stark reality of such projections. "Southern Vietnam could all but disappear," for instance. "More than 20 million people in Vietnam, almost one-quarter of the population, live on land that will be inundated." Bangkok, Shanghai, Mumbai, Alexandria, and Basra will all be severely inundated by the end of the century according to the model.