Long-term sea level rise due to near-term carbon emissions is threatening major coastal cities across the world. The Climate Change site presents paired images showing iconic locations in London, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Durban and New York to drive home the message of how these areas could fare under scenarios of business as usual vs. a sharp transition to clean energy.

In the first image for each pair, we show projections of post-2100 sea level rise that could be locked in following 4°C (7.2°F) of warming from carbon pollution in the coming decades. This pathway corresponds roughly to business as usual.

The images below were created by visual artist Nickolay Lamm based on Climate Central’s sea level map data.

Durban:

London:

Shanghai:

Mumbai:

Sydney:

Rio:

And in Athens, Greece: