A new and interactive map of locked-in sea level rise (the amount of sea level rise expected given already the amount of CO2 emissions and warming that have occurred already) has been published by the science NGO, Climate Central. The map shows threatened cities up until 2100, divided in increments of 10 years. Users can click on any year to see which states will be host to threatened cities; clicking on a particular state will give the user the number of cities threatened in that state and provide a list of the those with the biggest populations. The author of the Climate Central map and article, Ben Strauss, explains that he arrived at his scenario based on scientific consensus that the amount of CO2 currently being emitted has committed us to a sea level rise of at least 4 feet: enough to threaten the homes of 3.6 million people in the U.S. Further, Strauss uses a recent climate study that shows that if CO2 levels continue to rise, we can expect another 23 feet of sea level rise by the end of this century, submerging the homes of 18 million people across close to 1500 municipalities. Combining this study with data on U.S. coastal elevations and census data, the map shows that the largest threatened cities, under current emissions trends, are Miami, Virginia Beach, Sacramento, and Jacksonville.
Interactive map developed through Climate Central.