Rising sea levels mean these cities and even entire countries could disappear beneath the waves within decades
With global warming melting the polar ice caps, experts warn places like Venice, Amsterdam and the Maldives could become underwater relics by as early as 2100.
CITIES and countries around the world are in danger of vanishing beneath the waves by the end of the century if sea levels continue to rise.
With global warming causing polar ice caps to melt at an alarming rate, experts have warned of the creation of a string of real-life Atlantises within decades.
Pacific and Indian Ocean Islands
Some of the worst places to be hit will be the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Sea levels across small island nations have seen a dramatic rise over the past few decades - a rate of up to three or four times larger than the global average.
Popular tourist hotspot The Maldives, which has the lowest elevation in the world and a population of 427,000, faces complete obliteration.
The island chain - famous around the world for its stunning sandy beaches, snorkelling and scuba diving - may be completely swallowed up by the ocean by the end of the century.
Tiny Tuvalu, in the western Pacific, will also reportedly be uninhabitable by 2050, while its miniature neighbour Kiribati is expected to be fully submerged by 2100.
Others have already vanished completely.
Five reef islands in the Solomon Islands have already been lost forever while a further six have been completely eroded.
And the ocean has also reclaimed Kepidau en Pehleng and Nahlapenlohd in Micronesia.
Scientists are convinced more and more of these tiny islands are at risk of sinking into the sea in the next 30 years and Pacific Island leaders have urged bigger countries to take action on climate change.
Professor Tim Flannery, climate change expert and professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, told : “It’s very much on their minds, they’re trying to work out how to deal with it.”
But experts have warned that Pacific islands are not the only places at risk - and the effects of rising sea levels could soon be felt closer to home if nothing is done.
Europe
Some predict the ocean could rise by as much as 6.6ft by 2100, according to Nasa.
This could mean major European cities in low-lying areas completely vanishing by the end of the 21st century.
Tourist hotspot and world heritage site Venice is one of the most at risk.
Much of low-lying Belgium and the Netherlands would also vanish - including the Dutch capital Amsterdam, which is visited by thousands of Brits every year.
And the German city of Hamburg would be inundated not long after.
How climate change causes the seas to rise and threatens cities
Scientists generally agree that rising sea levels are linked to climate change.
Emissions of gases like methane and carbon dioxide are caused by human activity like the burning of fossil fuels and the farming of livestock.
These gases cause a “greenhouse effect” which warms the Earth’s atmosphere by trapping heat from the sun.
This increase in temperature makes sea levels rise by melting ice in the colder areas of the planet.
The warmer climate also causes the existing water in the sea to expand and take up more space, which adds to the problem.
But a small group of dissenters deny climate change is actually caused by humans and insist it is part of the Earth’s natural cycle.
Rest of the World
Going further into the future, one study this year by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US predicted sea levels would rise by 10-16ft by 2200.
If that were to happen, even more cities would be at risk of becoming underwater relics.
New Orleans in the US would be swallowed by the Caribbean Sea within 200 years.
And a similar fate would await the ancient city of Alexandria in Egypt.
According to one international team of researchers, including the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool, who produced a study on the issue last year: “The impacts of sea level rise in coastal regions will not be uniform and the challenge of adapting to extremely rapid sea level rise will affect individuals, communities, countries, and the global population.
“The next generation or two will face unprecedented challenges to protect coastal Unesco Cultural World Heritage sites such as Venice, Alexandria, and Qal’at al-Bahrain as well as vulnerable tropical coastal ecosystems.”
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