More than triple the amount of people, when compared with past estimates, will be at risk from rising sea levels in the coming years, a new study shows.
If carbon emissions remain high, an estimated 300 million people across the globe will face the threat of coastal flooding at least once a year by 2050, the new study by scientists from Princeton University explains.
This figure is in contrast to previous estimates that rising sea levels would impact the lives of 80 million people.
Particularly hard hit by rising sea levels are six countries in Asia, where 237 million people are likely to face the threat of coastal flooding by 2050.
The Belgian coastline will not be immune from flooding; rather, rising sea levels will pose a threat to the cities of Dendermonde, Bruges and Mechelen, writes Le Soir.
By 2100, rising sea levels will impact the lives of 360 million people.
"These possibilities of frequent coastal floodings are likely to be most common in developing countries, and to be poorly documented," the authors of the study explained.
Evie McCullough
The Brussels Times
