Between now and the end of the century, the beaches of Barcelona could experience a sea level rise of between 47 and 85 centimeters. A tool, available online nASA’s “Global Warming” report shows how global warming would affect sea level rise in coastal cities like Barcelona, based on projections by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In practice, this would take the form of a sand reduction and surface on the beaches to the flooding of nearby areas such as the boardwalk or the disappearance of coastal neighborhoods.
The different scenarios
sealevel.nasa.gov / Different scenarios for CNBThe tool’s most optimistic scenario (SSP1-1.9) envisions a world in which global CO2 emissions are reduced to zero around 2050 and the worst effects of climate change have not occurred. It would be to reach the Paris agreements on global warming. In this case, sea level would rise by 45 centimeters in 2100.
In other scenarios, with warming of 2.7 to 3.6 degrees, the consequences are beginning to be devastating, with sea level rises of more than half a meter. Current policies project a temperature increase of 2.8°C by the end of the century, which for Barcelona would be meeting the SSP2-4.5 scenario, where sea level would rise by up to 0.65 centimeters.
how many centimeters are too many for a coastal city?
According to several studies, 30 cm by 2050 could already cause flooding. According to the week’s projections, all scenarios would fall below this range, between 24 and 28 centimeters by 2050. However, growth accelerates as the temperature increase does not abate.
The proof is that for the SSP2-4.5 scenario, an increase of 26 centimeters is projected for 2050, which 50 years later will not be 52, but 65.