PLEA Network

9 November 2015, Renew Economy, Graph of the Day: Cities under water at 2°C and 4°C. Around half a billion people are at risk from sea level rise if the world continues on a business-as-usual path for carbon emissions, a new report has found – while limiting warming to the recommended 2°C would cut this risk by more than half. The US report by Climate Central, accompanied by an online interactive mapping system, shows that carbon emissions causing 4°C of warming – what business-as-usual points toward today – could lock in enough sea level rise to submerge land currently home to 470 to 760 million people as the “unstoppable rise” unfolds over centuries. The research also reveals, however, that aggressive carbon cuts limiting warming to 2°C could bring the number as low as 130 million people. The report – authored by Climate Central scientists Benjamin Strauss and Scott Kulp, and Anders Levermann of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research – assesses implications for all coastal nations and cities – post-2100 – using relationships between warming caused by carbon emissions, the long-term global sea level rise it locks in, and global elevation and population data. The news is worst for China, which is found to be most at risk with 145 million people living on land ultimately threatened by rising seas if emission levels are not reduced. Below are the mapped projections for Shanghai, at 4°C on the left, and 2°C on the right. Read More here