Which Future Will We Choose?

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

National Mall/United States Capitol, Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States

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USA__DC__Washington_DC__National_Mall__L13__3p0C__photorealistic.jpg

If we keep our current carbon path
(3°C global warming)

(3°C warming)

USA__DC__Washington_DC__National_Mall__L13__1p5C__photorealistic.jpg

If we sharply cut carbon pollution
(1.5°C global warming)

(1.5°C warming)

1.5°C3°C

These images show projected future sea levels at National Mall/United States Capitol 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.