Which Future Will We Choose?

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

Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York, New York, United States

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USA__NY__New_York__Statue_Of_Liberty_National_Monument__L13__3p0C.jpg
If we keep our current carbon path
(3°C global warming)
(3°C warming)
Image Landsat/Copernicus
USA__NY__New_York__Statue_Of_Liberty_National_Monument__L13__1p5C.jpg
If we sharply cut carbon pollution
(1.5°C global warming)
(1.5°C warming)
Image Landsat/Copernicus
Present-day sea level1.1°C1.5°C2°C3°C4°C

These images show projected future sea levels at Statue of Liberty National Monument in New York, 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.