SINKING FEELING...
Climate will bring us under the sea
DUBLIN Castle will be awash with water if the planet continues on its perilous carbon path to 3C global warming.
The ominous scenario has been flagged by campaigners and experts at Climatecentral.org — with the same scenes set to play out around the world.
Their experts warn that cities face unprecedented threats from a “multicentury sea level rise”.
And they say that the timing of whe n t he capital could be submerged is difficult to pre- dict, the energy choices in coming years could make all the difference.
The scenario on the left — where Dublin Castle looks much as it does today — is the best case one, if we cut carbon pollution and global warming to 1.5C.
But the one on the right shows what’s expected if change isn’t enforced.
The campaigners warn: “A portion of human- caused carbon dioxide emis
sions will stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, raising temperatures and sea levels globally.
“Most nations’ emissions-reduction policies and actions do not seem to reflect this long-term threat, as collectively they point toward widespread inundation of many developed areas.”
The experts projected how they expect other global landmarks to look in the future — i ncluding London’s Buckingham Palace and the Space Centre in Houston Texas.
The researchers added: “Many smal l island nations are threatened with near-total loss. The high tide line could encroach above land occupied by as much as 15 per cent of t he global population.
“By contrast, m meeting the most ambitious goals of the Paris Climate Agreement will likely reduce exposure by roughly half and may avoid globally unprecedented defense requirements for any coastal megacity exceeding a population of 10 million.”