Which Future Will We Choose?

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

Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States

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USA__DC__Washington_DC__Lincoln_Memorial__L13__3p0C.jpg
If we keep our current carbon path
(3°C global warming)
(3°C warming)
Image Landsat / Copernicus Gray Buildings © 2008 Sanborn Gray Buildings © 2011 CyberCity
USA__DC__Washington_DC__Lincoln_Memorial__L13__1p5C.jpg
If we sharply cut carbon pollution
(1.5°C global warming)
(1.5°C warming)
Image Landsat / Copernicus Gray Buildings © 2008 Sanborn Gray Buildings © 2011 CyberCity
Present-day sea level1.1°C1.5°C2°C3°C4°C

These images show projected future sea levels at Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., United States 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.