Climate change has a consequence that is undoubtedly greatly feared by everyone: rising sea levels. Far from being a distant threat, its effects are already being felt around the world and future projections force us to prepare for a scenario where our coasts will be altered, even having to prepare simulations to find out which buildings will be submerged under the seabed.
A simulator. To understand the magnitude of this challenge and precisely visualize which areas will be submerged, there are tools such as ‘Sea Level Rise Viewer’, a 3D map that allows us to peer into an uncertain future. A map created by the developer Akihiko Kusanagi and which consists of an interactive simulation far from traditional 2D maps to offer us a photorealistic, and above all alarming, experience.
A great result that has been achieved using the powerful photorealistic 3D mosaics of Google Maps and rendering technologies such as deck.gl and three.js. Something that has allowed any user to become a direct witness of the consequences of climate change. Furthermore, the code is completely open as it is published on GitHub.
How it works. The genius of ‘Sea Level Rise 3D Map’ lies in its simplicity. When accessing the website, we find a 3D map of the world accompanied by a very minimalist interface that focuses on two key elements:
- Sea level: in this case it is possible to visualize how the coastal geography will change when the sea level increases meter by meter. With each increase, a layer of blue water will rise to cover the entire terrain, first flooding the port areas and beaches and then entering the urban centers. And it must be taken into account that for every cm that sea level rises, the coastline recedes 100 cm.
- Time of day: a second control located at the bottom that allows us to change the time, adjusting the lighting and shadows to have an even more realistic effect.
Simulation on the coasts of Motril (Granada) that shows the impact that an increase in sea level of 58 meters would have.
But the best of all is the search engine that is at the top of the map and that allows us to go to any city in the world with Google 3D coverage and see streets, monuments or emblematic neighborhoods that can end up underwater. And from the Statue of Liberty in New York to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona or Big Ben in London, the tool offers a unique and personalized perspective of a global crisis.
The science behind. Although the tool is a visual demonstration and not a predictive model with the precision of scientific studies, it puts face and volume to the data that the scientific community has been warning about for years through papers or conferences.
It must be taken into account that the rise of the sea is caused by two key factors. The first of them is thermal expansion, since the oceans have absorbed more than 90% of the extra heat generated by human emissions, causing the water to expand much more, which causes the coastline to end up receding.
This also adds to the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, as well as mountain glaciers, dumping billions of tons of water into the oceans each year.
Few solutions. Even if we started doing things right now, according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), even if global warming were limited to 1.5°C, sea levels would inevitably continue to rise. Projections for 2100 vary from about 43 cm in the most optimistic scenario to exceeding 84 cm in the most pessimistic.
But clearly with this tool, what represents just two or three meters of climbing gives us an idea of the magnitude of the long-term challenge to finish raising awareness of where we can venture and what we are going to leave to our descendants.
The conscience. Projects like the “Sea Level Rise 3D Map” are more necessary than ever. By transforming abstract data into a visual and personal experience, they achieve something that scientific reports often fail to do: generate an emotional impact and a sense of urgency on society.
Images | Chris Gallagher
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