China Submerged: Mapping Nightmare Sea Levels

Cartographer Jeffrey Linn has compiled maps of how coastal China would look under risen seas. Over 40 percent of the country's population lives in potentially affected regions.

May 30, 2015, 5am PDT | Philip Rojc | @PhilipRojc

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According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), "If the current trajectory continues, as many scientists fear it will, the world's sea level will rise dramatically, submerging many of world's current coastlines under more than 200 feet of water."

Following up on his nightmare-scenario maps of Seattle, L.A., San Diego, Portland, and Vancouver under 200 feet of risen sea, cartographer Jeffrey Linn has done the same for coastal China. The article includes several of Linn's depictions, which viewers can scroll over to compare current topography with a submerged future. Some highlights:

Lowland Shanghai is completely submerged if all polar ice melted.
Hong Kong is no more, with only hillside developments remaining.
The Pearl River Delta, considered the world's largest megacity by some, is entirely hollowed out by water.

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Submerged: Mapping a Future China and its Rising Seas

Published on Monday, May 18, 2015 in China File