How much will sea level rise and when will it happen?
Scientists and planners have known for more than a decade that the sea level is rising. In 1995, the EPA estimated that a 2-3 foot sea-level rise was possible over the next several generations. Climate change scientists have recently revised their predictions in response to a quicker than expected warming trend. Global warming has accelerated the melting of ice in Greenland, Antarctica, and the Arctic Circle. Glaciers worldwide have shrunk by more than 50%. Using the latest scientific evidence from the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute in Orono and others, NRCM used GIS mapping technology to show a one-meter (3-foot) and six- meter (20-foot) sea-level rise. The NRCM analysis estimates that a one-meter rise would submerge more than 20,000 acres of coastal real estate in Maine; the six-meter rise would inundate more than 128,000 acres. The two scenarios would destroy 53 and 380 miles of roads, respectively.
