New pictures show just how at risk the Welsh capital is from climate change.
For several years now Cardiff has been identified as one of the cities in the world most at risk of rising sea levels.
The new maps published by the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales will compel developers to take into account future flooding and coastal erosion risk.
Read more: See the picture across Wales here
These maps will be updated every six months and show that 11.3% of Wales is at risk of flooding from the sea. This is up from 9.86% last time. It is worth noting that these images do not take into account future flood defences and reflect the situation on the ground currently. Unlike many parts of Wales, Cardiff is likely to see significant investments in flood defences in coning years.
To make the map, the designers used the central estimate for climate change which assumes the following:
- 20-30% increase in river levees at peak flow
- A 20% increase in rainfall
- Just over 1.11 m sea-level rise
The images below show how different parts of Wales will be affected. Green indicate risks from sea-level rise whereas blue indicates a risk of flooding:
Areas likely to be underwater due to see level rises from melting icecaps:
This map shows how much of Cardiff city centre will be underwater with 1.11m of sea level rise.
As you can see, most of Butetown, central station, the Principality Stadium, Canton, Splott and Cardiff Bay would be submerged.
The map below shows how much of the southern parts of Pengam, Rumney, Trowbidge and St Mellons will also underwater without action.
Further along the Welsh coast the situation is very similar with the seaside town of Barry also badly affected.
These areas show the parts of Cardiff which will likely be affected by flooding as rain fall and river flows increase:
Both the Taff and the Ely rivers have the potential to cause flooding in many built up areas around the city. We saw how quickly the Taff can overflow during recent storms sent cascades of water coming down the Valleys.
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