Sea Level Rise "What Ifs" in the Southeastern United States

  • Released Saturday, October 17th, 2009
  • Updated Wednesday, May 3rd, 2023 at 1:54PM
  • ID: 3656

This visualization shows the Southeastern United States with population data over the land. Darker areas over land indicate higher population densities. Sea level scenarios are shown starting with 0 meters of sea level rise (current sea level) and proceeding through 9 meters of rise. Blue areas moving inland indicate where the coastline would be at various levels.

We will likely see some sea level rise in our lifetimes, but the middle-to-higher levels in this visualization are unlikely in the next 100 years.

This visualization is based on Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data. This data primarily measured canopy heights. So, this visualization is showing where water might reach the tops of the trees in various areas.

Sea level coastlines from 0 to 9 meters above current sea level

Color bar indicating approximate people per pixel (0=white, 2000+=black)

Color bar indicating approximate people per pixel (0=white, 2000+=black)

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio GRUMP population data provided by CIESIN

Missions

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Series

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Datasets used in this visualization

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