Huge swathes of Merseyside will be underwater if climate change is not urgently tackled.
The evidence for man-made global warming is overwhelming and one of the most devastating results of this, according to scientists, will be rapid sea level rise.
With Liverpool's port location, the Sefton coast and the Wirral Peninsula , Merseyside is particularly vulnerable to these rises and the experts have calculated exactly which parts of the region are most vulnerable.
A forecast by Climate Central and shared by Wales Online shows where sea levels could be expected to rise to - and it's bad news for Merseyside.
The map, named Surging Seas Mapping Choices, shows much of Liverpool's dockland underwater - stretching all the way up to Bootle.
Aigburth's promenade also appears entirely submerged, with much of Southport wiped out entirely.
Across the Mersey, the picture looks equally bleak - with large parts of Birkenhead , Leasowe and Hoylake left underwater, while Thurstaston and Heswall also faring badly.
By how much are sea levels rising?
A report by Climate Central found that if temperatures went up 4°C from pre-industrial levels the seas could rise by as much as 10.8 metres.
The most likely rise is about nine metres, which would submerge the homes of half a billion people.
World leaders are currently trying to keep temperatures within 2°C which, though only two degrees less, would keep the amount of people losing their homes to 130 million.
Even so, Merseyside would still be hard hit by the rising sea levels.
This image shows how much of the region could be underwater if there was a 4°C or 2°C rise in temperatures.
What about the rest of Merseyside?
You can use this interactive map to look around Merseyside, and the rest of the world, and see how much sea level rise will impact where you live.
Please note it can take a few second to load.
How long would it take for sea levels to get that high?
A rise in sea levels of this nature would would not happen overnight - it would be a steady increase with 100 years passing before it reached its highest level.
However, by the time it starts becoming very noticeable, it will be too late. We will be locked in and the rise will be unavoidable.
Why does the world getting warmer make sea levels go up?
You might think that with the world getting warmer there would be less ocean, but this is not the case.
The warmer climate makes the seas rise for three reasons.
- Ice caps melt. Well to be more accurate our massive ice sheets at the poles melt faster than they form from snowfall.
- The ocean expands. As you probably remember from secondary school chemistry, when things warm they expand. The seas are no exception.
- High altitude ice. As the planet warms the ice at altitude like on Everest will melt at a much higher point.
