Three times as many people could be affected by rising seas than previously thought and almost entire countries could be submerged, new research has found.
Scientists discovered that 300 million people are currently living on land that will flood at least once a year by 2050. has previously put the figure at 80 million.
They used a model which more accurately predicts land elevation than current models which often mistake the tops of trees for the ground.
Vast swaths of countries like Vietnam and India will be under water, according to the paper published in .
New York City will be among the most affected metro areas in the US given its dense population and coastal placement (Slide right for updated model)
In the UK, sea level rise will more drastically affect major metro areas like London as well as coastal areas to the east.
The new estimates came as a shock to the researchers, given their dramatic difference from previous tallies.
'These assessments show the potential of climate change to reshape cities, economies, coastlines and entire global regions within our lifetimes,' Scott Kulp, the lead author of the study and a senior scientist at Climate Central told .
At-risk areas include large portions of heavily populated cities like Mumbai, which is home to more than 18 million people and could be almost entirely underwater in the next 30 years.
Models show the worst effects could be seen across Asia where countries like India saw a sevenfold increase in the number of people set to be affected by annual floods, and China which saw a threefold increase.
The threat isn't reduced to Asia, however. In the UK, 3.5 million people could be at risk of flooding by 2050 according to their estimates.
The US wasn't among the most affected areas according to the researchers, but previous estimates have shown that dozens of cities across the country's coastal regions could soon be submerged, especially in states like New Jersey and Florida.
While the projection is significantly worse than previous models, researchers note that the disconcerting results may still get worse.
According to them, models are dependent on an increasingly volatile Antarctic ice sheets which continues to hemorrhage ice into the sea.
Countries like Bangladesh and swaths of neighboring India are among the most populous regions of the world.
Scientists say that if conditions there worsen, as many as 640 million people could be threatened by rising tides by 2100.
The estimates are also based on countries keeping stride with emission reductions outlined by the Paris Agreement - benchmarks which have continually gone unmet.
Likewise, estimates of the financial impact could also be much greater than previously thought.
As noted by The Guardian, World Bank data that projected the cost of climate change globally to be about $1 trillion per year were based on former models.
WHAT DO EXPERTS PREDICT FOR THE FATE OF THE PLANET'S PLANTS AND ANIMALS?
Nature is in more trouble now than at any time in human history with extinction looming over one million species of plants and animals, experts say.
That's the key finding of the UN first comprehensive report on biodiversity - the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat.
The report - published on May 6, 2019 - says species are being lost at a rate tens or hundreds of times faster than in the past.
Many of the worst effects can be prevented by changing the way we grow food, produce energy, deal with climate change and dispose of waste, the report said.
The report's 39-page summary highlighted five ways people are reducing biodiversity:
- Turning forests, grasslands and other areas into farms, cities and other developments. The habitat loss leaves plants and animals homeless. About three-quarters of Earth's land, two-thirds of its oceans and 85% of crucial wetlands have been severely altered or lost, making it harder for species to survive, the report said.
- Overfishing the world's oceans. A third of the world's fish stocks are overfished.
- Permitting climate change from the burning of fossil fuels to make it too hot, wet or dry for some species to survive. Almost half of the world's land mammals - not including bats - and nearly a quarter of the birds have already had their habitats hit hard by global warming.
- Polluting land and water. Every year, 300 to 400 million tons of heavy metals, solvents and toxic sludge are dumped into the world's waters.
- Allowing invasive species to crowd out native plants and animals. The number of invasive alien species per country has risen 70 per cent since 1970, with one species of bacteria threatening nearly 400 amphibian species.
Compiled by Olalekan Adeleye
MailOnline
