Which Future Will We Choose?

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

Roman Catholic Church Virgin Mary Mother of God, Burgas, Burgas, Bulgaria

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BGR__0__Burgas__Roman_Catholic_Church_Virgin_Mary_Mother_of_God_in_Burgas__L13__3p0C.jpg
If we keep our current carbon path
(3°C global warming)
(3°C warming)
Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO Image Landsat / Copernicus Image © 2021 Maxar Technologies Image © 2021 TerraMetrics
BGR__0__Burgas__Roman_Catholic_Church_Virgin_Mary_Mother_of_God_in_Burgas__L13__1p5C.jpg
If we sharply cut carbon pollution
(1.5°C global warming)
(1.5°C warming)
Data SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCO Image Landsat / Copernicus Image © 2021 Maxar Technologies Image © 2021 TerraMetrics
Present-day sea level1.1°C1.5°C2°C3°C4°C

These images show projected future sea levels at Roman Catholic Church Virgin Mary Mother of God, Burgas in Burgas, Bulgaria 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.