5 GIFs That Show What Climate Change Will Do to Major U.S. Cities

Part of the problem with discussions on global warming is that people have a hard time imagining what it looks like. It's difficult for individuals to synthesize large quantities of data and numbers into a simple form, which is why most discussions about global warming usually end up being really boring. 

An artist and researcher has found a way to fight this problem. Nickolay Lamm is an artist and researcher. He took the work of Climate Central's Remik Ziemlinski and created images of the effect sea level rise will have on American landmarks. PopSci animated the images which helps to show the change in sea level rise over time. Sea levels are rising much faster than anyone has predicted and it will have devastating consequences, like flooding the San Francisco airport in only 10 years. 

The images below show the popular tourist destinations with an additional 5, 12, and 25 feet of sea level rise. I've taken the liberty of showing how these destinations can rebrand themselves once sea levels rise. 

1) Washington, D.C.

Jefferson Memorial, Washington D.C. Come swim with the Founding Fathers!  

2) Boston

Boston Harbor Hotel, Boston Mass. "Boston Harbor: The Interactive Experience"

3) Washington, D.C.

Washington Monument, Washington D.C. Now infinitely more people will be able to re-enact the famous Forest Gump scene. 

4) New York City

Statue of Liberty, New York: Soon to be known as Statue of "burble burble, glub glub glub" 

5) Miami

South Beach, Miami, Florida: "Gee ma! That Art Deco design sure does pop under water!"

Climate change really isn't anything to joke about, so if you've like to see the science behind these pictures, I recommend this New York Times article or the work from Climate Central.