Which Future Will We Choose?

Climate and energy choices this decade will influence how high sea levels rise for hundreds of years.

Lalbagh Fort, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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BGD__0__Dhaka__Lalbagh_Fort__L13__3p0C__photorealistic.jpg
If we keep our current carbon path
(3°C global warming)
(3°C warming)
Derivative of Lalbagh Fort (লালবাগ দুর্গ) by Syedsazzadulhoque under CC BY-SA 4.0
BGD__0__Dhaka__Lalbagh_Fort__L13__1p5C__photorealistic.jpg
If we sharply cut carbon pollution
(1.5°C global warming)
(1.5°C warming)
Lalbagh Fort (লালবাগ দুর্গ) by Syedsazzadulhoque under CC BY-SA 4.0
1.5°C3°C

These images show projected future sea levels at Lalbagh Fort in Dhaka, Bangladesh due to human-caused global warming under two different scenarios. Climate and energy choices in the coming few decades could set the destination, but the timing of rise is more difficult to project: these sea levels may take hundreds of years to be fully realized.