Sea Level Rise...

Saturday, July 12, 2008

When you see those documentaries where they talk about the sea level rising and how many cities are going underwater... have you ever thought if your city is going to end up under the water?

Now you can check what would happen to your city with the following tool: http://flood.firetree.net/

Real World Implications...

• "currently, more than 200 million people live in coastal floodplains around the world, with two million square kilometres of land and one trillion dollars worth of assets less than one metre elevation above current sea level."

• "Many of the world’s major cities (22 of the top 50) are at risk of flooding from coastal surges, including Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Kolkata, Karachi, Buenos Aires, St Petersburg, New York, Miami and London. In almost every case, the city relies on costly flood defences for protection. Even if protected, these cities would lie below sea level with a residual risk of flooding like New Orleans today."

• "“The water supplies of dozens of major cities around the world are at risk from a previously ignored aspect of global warming. Within the next few decades rising sea levels will pollute underground water reserves with salt…"

For the complete article.