Which Future Will We Choose?

Climate and energy choices this decade will influence how high sea levels rise for hundreds of years.

Estádio Mário Filho (Maracanã Stadium), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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BRA__0__Rio_de_Janeiro__Maracana__L13__4p0C.jpg
If we allow unchecked carbon pollution
(4°C global warming)
(4°C warming)
Image Landsat/Copernicus
BRA__0__Rio_de_Janeiro__Maracana__L13__1p5C.jpg
If we sharply cut carbon pollution
(1.5°C global warming)
(1.5°C warming)
Image Landsat/Copernicus
Present-day sea level1.1°C1.5°C2°C3°C4°C

These images show projected future sea levels at Estádio Mário Filho (Maracanã Stadium) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil due to human-caused global warming under two different scenarios. Climate and energy choices in the coming few decades could set the destination, but the timing of rise is more difficult to project: these sea levels may take hundreds of years to be fully realized.