Where it’s not worth building a family house “for centuries” and buying a place in a cemetery in advance: cities and countries that will go under water as a result of climate change on Earth

Scientists from the world's leading scientific centers For many years they have been trying to predict the consequences of global warming. The most terrible of them is the melting of glaciers, which will lead to an increase in the level of water in the world's oceans and, as a result, the flooding of a number of territories, including large cities.

The figures are different every year - some say that in a few decades almost half of modern megacities will go under water.

Others are sure that neither we nor our children and grandchildren have anything to fear - humanity will feel serious consequences only after hundreds of years. And yet, the fear of a new global flood is becoming more and more real every year - remember at least a large-scale flood in Europe, a flood in Far East and the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York.

The forecast of scientists from the Potsdam Institute for the Study of Climate Change (Germany) says that by 2100 the level of the World Ocean will rise by 0.75 - 1.5 meters due to the melting of continental ice.

In this case, in 100 years Venice will go under water, in another 50 (by 2150) - Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, and there are not far from other large metropolitan areas.

But Russia, in this case, is threatened not so much by water as by refugees from other countries - according to scientists, if the water rises by a meter, 72 million Chinese will be forced to change their place of residence. And where do they flee, if not to Russia, what do you think?

The forecast of Russian scientists was set out in the Climate Doctrine adopted by the Government and is perhaps the most optimistic in the world. However, the minister natural resources Russian Federation Yuri Trutnev, presenting the draft document, said that there is a real threat to our cities already in the 100-year perspective.

Over the previous century, the water level rose by 10 cm, while with an increase in the ocean level by the same amount, by 2050-2070, a significant part of the territory of St. Petersburg and almost the entire Yamal may be flooded. With a growth of 20 cm, parts of the Arkhangelsk and Murmansk regions and a number of other territories of the country are at risk of flooding.

The forecast of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research: the level of the world sea can rise by 1.4 meters by 2100. Scientists did not calculate the consequences for the Russians, but if our experts consider even 10 cm to be a critical figure, imagine what will happen with an increase of almost one and a half meters!

Absolutely, island states will go into oblivion (Maldives in the Indian Ocean or Tuvalu in the Pacific), Calcutta will be flooded, and London, New York and Shanghai will have to spend about 15 billion dollars each on flood protection (the Americans calculated this figure for themselves) . 100 million Asians, 14 million Europeans will become refugees, and if the latter can still find a place for themselves in unflooded areas, then the former will most likely “flow” into Russia.

The forecast of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) turned out to be rather vague - scientists do not give exact numbers, but they say that by the end of the 21st century, the consequences of global warming will threaten flooding big cities, including St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Calcutta.

Russian experts, however, commenting on the report, said that they were ready to vouch for the safety of St. Petersburg with their heads - according to their calculations, the level of the world ocean, while maintaining the current pace, will rise by 30 centimeters in 100 years, and nothing threatens the city on the Neva. I wonder why then their colleagues who wrote the national doctrine are even worried about 10 cm?

The National Geographic forecast is one of the most pessimistic. True, it is designed for an indefinite period, but the rate of glacier melting is growing from year to year, so that a thousand years may well be reduced to a couple of centuries. According to scientists, with the complete melting of glaciers, the level of the world's seas will rise by about 65 meters, and average temperature on the planet will rise from 14 to 26 degrees.

In this case, Florida, the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and most of California will be flooded in North America. In Latin America, Buenos Aires, as well as coastal Uruguay and Paraguay, will go under water. In Europe, London, Venice, the Netherlands and most of Denmark will be destroyed by the elements.

But scientists believe that Russia will suffer most of all due to the spill of the Black and Caspian Seas. The entire Volga-Akhtuba floodplain will go under water along with Volgograd, as well as partially Astrakhan, Rostov regions and the Republic of Kalmykia. In the north of Russia, St. Petersburg, Petrozavodsk and other smaller cities will fall into the flood zone.

Geologists do not stop predicting the possible consequences of global warming. The authors of the National Geographic magazine wondered what would happen to the Earth if, under the influence of high temperatures all the ice that is on the planet today will melt? It is reported by Day.Az with reference to Newsru.com.

They calculated all the possible consequences and created an interactive map that clearly showed scenarios for the development of events for each of the continents.

First, if the ice melts, according to scientists, the sea level on Earth will rise by about 65 meters. As a result, the average temperature on the planet will rise from 14 to 26 degrees.

In North America, the entire Atlantic coast of the United States, including Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, will sink into the water. Most of California will also be under water. In Latin America, it will flood the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, as well as coastal Uruguay and Paraguay.

Africa will largely remain untouched, but much of it will become uninhabited.

In Egypt, as a result of rising water levels in the Mediterranean Sea, "wetlands" will be ancient city Alexandria and Cairo. Many famous landmarks of Europe will also be destroyed. London, Venice will disappear. Under water will be the Netherlands and most of Denmark.

In Asia, the water will flood areas that today are home to about 600 million Chinese. Washed off the face of the Earth will be Bangladesh and the coastal regions of India.

As for Australia, there the melting of ice will lead to the formation of a whole sea right in the center of the continent. In addition, vast coastal lands, where more than 80% of the population lives today, will be flooded. Antarctica will become completely unrecognizable.

Ecologists say that the process of ice melting depends on a number of factors. Among them, the rate of increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and others. However, National Geographic warns that you shouldn't be too scared just yet. The process of melting ice is monitored by specialists from all over the world, and, according to their calculations, it will take about five thousand years for all the ice on Earth to melt.

North America

All cities located on the east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico will be buried under water. The hills of San Francisco will become islands. Cuba will also suffer, the Gulf of California will increase.

South America

The Amazon Basin will turn into a bay. The same process will affect the rivers in Paraguay. Thus, the water will absorb Buenos Aires, the coast of Uruguay and a large territory of Paraguay. Mountain areas along the Caribbean coast will remain in their place.


Europe

London, Venice, Holland, Moldova and part of Denmark will disappear from the face of the Earth. The Black and Caspian Seas will increase in size.

Australia

The desert in the center of the mainland will become an inland sea. Coastal cities will be flooded.

Within two years of the pole shift, due to the melting of the Antarctic ice cap, ocean levels will rise by 200 meters. The map covers not only Western Europe, but also European part Russia. The flood area is shown in blue. Changes on the map of Europe will be almost the most rapid and dramatic. After the failure of the tectonic plate, the entire north of the mainland will go under water. In place of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, only a handful of islands will remain. Most of the UK from Scotland to the English Channel will also sink, and the kingdom with the remnants of London and Birmingham will be located on small islands resembling modern Scottish ones. Almost all of Ireland will disappear. Almost all of Central Europe mediterranean sea before the Baltic will go under water. From the whole of France there will be a small island with Paris in the center. Between him and Switzerland will lay a new waterway from Geneva to Zurich. A third of Spain, the western and southern parts of Portugal will disappear from the face of the earth. Three-quarters of Italy will also go under water: Venice, Naples, Rome and Genoa will sink, but the Vatican will be saved - the city will be transferred to elevated land areas. New lands will appear from Sicily to Sardinia. The Black Sea will flood Bulgaria and Romania. Part of western Turkey will disappear under water: new coastline will stretch from Cyprus to Istanbul. Former Soviet Union Europe will be separated by a huge sea - the result of the confluence of the Caspian, Black, Kara and Baltic Seas. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (except for the southernmost part) will drown in it. Divided almost in the middle by an island-ridge of the Ural Mountains, it will cover the entire European territory of Russia and Siberia up to the Yenisei. Under the water column will be: Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan (except for one third in the southeast); Uzbekistan (except the southeastern quarter); western Kazakhstan (only islands of the northern and part of the eastern territories will remain). From Belarus there will be a small eastern section, and from Ukraine - part of the northeastern tip. Lake Balkhash will increase to the size of the state of Colorado, and Lake Baikal to the size of Great Britain. The east of Russia will remain almost untouched, but a huge body of water will appear here - the Laptev Sea that has spilled deep into the continent; Vast areas of the northern coast will also go under water.

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The National Geographic project "If All the Ice Melts" offers a look at the map of the world that is formed after the melting of all glaciers: the level of the world's oceans will rise by 65 meters and create a new relief of the continents. According to scientists, if humanity continues to actively pollute the atmosphere, this will happen in 5 thousand years.

It is always interesting to imagine very improbable, but in principle real things. What would happen if all the ice on Earth, which is more than 20 million cubic kilometers, melted?

National Geographic has created a series of interactive maps that show what kind of catastrophic consequences would occur on our planet. The melted ice, which would have entered the oceans and seas, would have led to a sea level rise of 65 meters. It would engulf cities and countries, changing general form continents and coastlines, wiping entire populations off the face of the earth.

Scientists believe it will take about 5,000 years for temperatures to rise enough to melt all the ice on Earth. However, a start has already been made.
Over the past century, the temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.5 degrees Celsius, and this has led to a sea level rise of 17 cm.

If we continue to burn coal, oil and gas reserves, adding five trillion coal to the atmosphere, the average temperature on our planet will reach 26.6 degrees Celsius instead of today's 14.4 degrees Celsius.

So let's see what will become of the continents...

In Europe, cities like London and Venice will be under water. It will also flood the Netherlands and most of Denmark. The Mediterranean Sea will expand and increase the size of the Black and Caspian Seas.

In Asia, China and Bangladesh will be flooded and more than 760 million people will be underwater. Among the destroyed cities will be: Karachi, Baghdad, Dubai, Calcutta, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo and Beijing. The coast of India will also decrease significantly.

In North America, the entire Atlantic coastline in the US will disappear, along with Florida and the Gulf Coast. In California, the hills of San Francisco will turn into islands, and the California Valley will become a huge bay.

AT South America The Amazonian lowland and the Paraguay River basin will become the straits of the Atlantic Ocean, wiping out Buenos Aires, coastal Uruguay and part of Paraguay.

Compared to other continents, Africa will lose less land mass due to rising sea levels. However, rising temperatures will lead to the fact that most of it will become uninhabitable. In Egypt, Alexandria and Cairo will be flooded by the Mediterranean Sea.

Australia will have a continental sea, but it will lose most of the narrow coastal strip where 4 out of 5 Australians live.

In Antarctica, what was once land ice will no longer be ice or land. This will happen because under the ice there is a continental relief, which is below sea level.

What does Antarctica look like without ice?

Antarctica is the largest ice sheet in the world, but what is under it?

Scientists from NASA have shown the surface of Antarctica, which has been hidden under a thick layer of ice for more than 30 million years. In a project called BedMap2, researchers calculated the total amount of ice in Antarctica to predict sea level rise in the future. To do this, they needed to know the underlying topography, including wide valleys and hidden mountain ranges.

Some of the most impressive discoveries in Antarctica were the deepest point of all continents, the valley below the Byrd Glacier, which is located at a distance of 2780 meters below sea level. The scientists also received the first detailed images of the Gamburtsev Mountains, which are under a 1.6-kilometer layer of ice.

The new map is based on surface elevation, ice thickness and base topography, which were taken using land, air and satellite surveys. Scientists have also used radar, sound waves and electromagnetic tools to map.

Warming oceans are already melting the West Antarctica ice sheet, and since 1992, about 65 million tons of ice has been shed each year.