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Climate Change GIF Shows NYC Drowning As Ice Sheets Melt
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 23, 2015
Modified Feb 23, 2015
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 23, 2015
Modified Feb 23, 2015
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According to current models, sea levels could rise as much as six feet in NYC by the end of our century, making most of our waterfront property unlivable due to constant flooding and storms. A new map and GIF from cartographer Jeffrey Linn looks even further into the future to illustrate what future generations can expect from our dope Hummer SUVs. Ever watch A.I. all the way to the end? This GIF showing NYC sea level rise over the next thousand years will look familiar:
The GIF above shows the progress of 250 feet of sea level rise, estimating how NYC will look if both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets melt. The map excerpt below shows the effect of 100 feet of sea level rise, which is a rough estimate for what will happen if one-third of the ice sheets melt. "For all of these maps, I am not portraying any sea level higher than what is possible," writes Linn. "The USGS has estimated that the total rise would be about 80 meters."
An excerpt from Jeffrey Linn's map showing the effects of 100 feet of sea level rise in NYC over the course of the coming millennium. (Here's the full map.)
N.B.: One commenter argues that Linn's upper level sea rise estimate is too high: "It should be closer to 66 meters, 218′, if you remove all the ice from land. (The USGS info you use for the upper bound is out of date. There are better techniques now for estimating the volume of ice in Greenland and Antarctica. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releases new reports that have up to date information. Look at Table 4.1.)"
Oh, only 218 feet! What are we worrying about?
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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