Waterworld: How America's cities will look in five centuries if sea level rises predicted by scientists prove correct
- In a bid to raise public awareness about global warming, an artist has created a shocking series of image
- Nickolay Lamm's photo illustrations show many of America's most iconic destinations under up to 25 feet of water
- Months after Superstorm Sandy, a recent study has concluded that severe weather is now the new normal
- Last year was the hottest year ever in the United States
This chilling series of images give an alarming projection of how some of America's most famous tourism destinations could look in the future if scientists predictions about the effects of global warming prove correct. Pittsburgh-based researcher and artist Nickolay Lamm, 24, has created the shocking photo illustrations which show many of American's most iconic destinations including the Washington Monument, Statue of Liberty and Miami's South Beach submerged in up to 25 feet of water. It could take several centuries for sea levels to rise to that level but Lamm hopes his work will raise public awareness about the very real threat of global warming today, reports StorageFront.
Popular tourist destination: The art deco district of Ocean Drive in Florida as it looks today
Submerged city: In centuries to come Ocean Drive could be submerged in 25 feet of water according to global warming projections
The Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, is one of the U.S.'s most popular tourist destinations
In the centuries to come the Washington Monument could be surrounded by water if sea levels rise by 25 feet
Boston is another area which could be significantly impacted by rising sea levels, these images show the harbor today, left, and then under 25ft of water, right
According to the U.S. National Climate Assessment, a congressionally mandated study released earlier this year, the consequences of climate change are now hitting the United States on several fronts, including health, infrastructure, water supply, agriculture and especially more frequent severe weather.
The report claims observable change to the climate in the past half-century 'is due primarily to human activities, predominantly the burning of fossil fuel,' and that no areas of the United States are immune to change. 'Corn producers in Iowa, oyster growers in Washington State, and maple syrup producers in Vermont have observed changes in their local climate that are outside of their experience,' the report said. Months after Superstorm Sandy hurtled into the U.S. East Coast, causing billions of dollars in damage, the report concluded that severe weather was now the new normal.
'Certain types of weather events have become more frequent and/or intense, including heat waves, heavy downpours, and, in some regions, floods and droughts,' the report said.
This series of images show how the Statue of Liberty might be impacted by rising sea levels, left, as it is today and then right, after an increase in sea level of five feet
Left, how the Statue of Liberty could look in 2300 when sea levels may have risen to 12 feet, then after levels have increased 25 feet in several centuries
Holiday hotspot: South Beach in Florida as it looks today
South Beach in Florida could be totally submerged in the future if the sea levels rise 25 feet
Last year was the hottest year ever in the United States.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, the seas will rise by an average of 6.6 feet by 2100.
Then over the coming centuries, as temperatures rise and ice sheets melt, the oceans could rise as much as 20 or 30 feet.
Lamm has created images which show how famous landmarks could look like under 5 feet (projected increase over the next 100 to 300 years), 12 feet (potential level in 2300), and 25 feet (the potential level in coming centuries) of water. The U.S. National Climate Assessment report notes that of an increase in average U.S. temperatures of about 1.5 degrees F since 1895, when reliable national record-keeping began, more than 80 percent had occurred in the past three decades. With heat-trapping gases already in the atmosphere, temperatures could rise by a further 2 to 4 degrees F in most parts of the country over the next few decades, the report said.
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. is a presidential memorial dedicated to Thomas Jefferson
The Thomas Jefferson Memorial could be almost totally submerged if sea levels rise by 25 feet
These maps show Lamm's projections for which areas of New York and New Jersey would become submerged if sea level rose 25 feet, right, compared to now, left
Certain positive consequences of rising temperatures, such as a longer growing season, were said to be offset by more disruptive impacts, including:
- Threats to human health from increased extreme weather events, wildfires and air pollution, as well as diseases spread by insects and through food and water;
- Less reliable water supply, and the potential for water rights to become a hot-button legal issue;
- More vulnerable infrastructure due to sea-level rise, bigger storm surges, heavy downpours and extreme heat;
- Warmer and more acidic oceans.
Some Democrats hope President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to clamp down further on some carbon-polluting industries.
Obama has cited climate change as a priority since being re-elected in November, although many Republican lawmakers are wary of declaring a definitive link between human activity and evidence of a changing climate.
Some of the best-preserved examples of 19th-century urban design in the United States are found in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston
How the rows of Victorian brownstone homes might look if water levels increase by 25 feet
Harvard University, the private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts as it looks today
How Harvard University might look under 25 feet of water
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