• This interactive tour shows projected sea level rise of eight different locations under 2°C and 4°C warming scenarios.

Positives

• This map shows these cities underwater, making sea level rise more concrete for students.
• Additional links feature maps and fly-over videos for certain cities.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should be familiar with how climate change causes sea levels to rise.
• Projected sea level rise for each city can be visualized at global warming of 2°C or 4°C. You can challenge your students to notice the differences between the two warming scenarios.
• Students should be familiar with climate change and sea level rise.
• This tour of sea level rise around the world features the following eight locations:
  • (1) Antarctica
  • (2) London, England
  • (3) New York City, USA
  • (4) Mumbai, India
  • (5) Shanghai, China
  • (6) Lagos, Nigeria
  • (7) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • (8) San Francisco, USA

Differentiation

• Students who live in or near one of these cities can explore the hyperlocal impacts of sea level rise under these two different warming scenarios.
• Social studies and geography students can explore these cities and offer recommendations for climate adaptation, including building sea walls, retrofitting buildings to withstand chronic flooding, and organizing a managed retreat from the coast. Students could present their findings to the rest of the class.
• Science students can conduct this experiment to understand the thermal expansion of water, one of the reasons for sea level rise.
• Students can use this NOAA resource to read more about sea level rise and see up-to-date information on sea level rise.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.