Disturbing before-and-after photos show how US cities - and their famous landmarks - could be underwater in 80 years
Advertisement
May 25, 2019, 19:07 IST
No city is immune to the consequences of a warming world, but a few are more vulnerable than the rest. Sea-level rise is a considerable threat in San Francisco, for example, where some land has begun to sink due to excessive groundwater pumping.
Advertisement
By the end of the century, the city's iconic Fisherman's Wharf could be underwater.
Advertisement
The city's Ferry Building has been around since the end of the 19th century.
But it could be inundated by 2100, along with the rest of the Embarcadero, a popular area for tourists and locals.
Advertisement
New York's Statue of Liberty doesn't stand much of a chance, either.
Lady Liberty's 154-foot-tall pedestal may keep the statue from getting soaked, but the rest of Liberty Island could be submerged by 2100.
Advertisement
Construction workers are still putting the finishing touches on Manhattan's World Trade Center complex, which likely won't be complete for another few years.
But the complex might be hard to reach without a boat 80 years from now.
Advertisement
Boston's historical North End would cease to exist by 2100.
Extreme projections of sea-level rise put the city's historic Faneuil Hall underwater, along with other parts of the Freedom Trail.
Advertisement
A number of Washington, DC monuments are in danger, too.
Rising waters would inundate the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, though the memorial itself could remain unscathed.
Advertisement
DC's Thomas Jefferson Memorial is in a more precarious position, since it's located along the Tidal Basin of the Potomac River.
The memorial's entire platform is expected to be underwater.
Advertisement
Most neighborhoods in Charleston, South Carolina, could be underwater by 2100. That includes Fort Sumter, the site where the American Civil War began in 1861.
Around 64,000 of Charleston's residents are at risk of coastal flooding in the next 100 years.
Advertisement
Most of Atlantic City, New Jersey (along with parts of New York City) wound up underwater during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The projections for 2100 are far worse.
The city's boardwalk, which includes the 1,000-foot-long Steel Pier amusement park, could be submerged 80 years from now.
Advertisement
New Orleans is no stranger to the problems that come with sea-level rise. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina's storm surge flooded 80% of the city.
By 2100, the entire city could disappear under the rising water. An estimated 500,000 people may have to permanently leave their homes.
Advertisement
During Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of people sought refuge at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints.
But even the arena might not escape extreme sea-level rise unscathed.
Advertisement
The state of Florida is especially vulnerable to rising seas. If all of Greenland's ice were to melt at once, the water would submerge everything south of West Palm Beach.
But even if Greenland's ice sheet remains intact, NOAA anticipates that Palm Beach, Florida could be wholly underwater by 2100.
Advertisement
That spells bad news for President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, which is sometimes referred to as the Winter White House.
Under the worst-case scenario for sea-level rise, the greens and mansions of Mar-a-Lago could be completely submerged in 80 years.