This GIF shows what would happen to London if the sea level rose by 80 metres
A visual artist and urban planner has designed a GIF to show what would happen to London if the sea level rose about 80 metres from the current level.
Jeffrey Linn, who worked at Microsoft as a geographic data developer before opening the website Spatialities, designed the GIF with data from the University of Leeds, with whom he is currently working on a graphic novel set in Britain in 200 years time.
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54e3249add089551238b45d5/londonanimated.gif" border="0" alt="LondonAnimated">
As you can see from the GIF, much of the city would be completely flooded.
As a port city, London is extremely vulnerable to rising sea level: when in 1953 a storm in the North Sea generated a tidal surge of more than 5 metres, 300 people died in England, and the capital was flooded up to Teddington weir.
Here are a couple of more shots from the GIF, to give you an idea of what would happen.
This one shows London under a 40-metre flood. Most of the City is underwater, but the outskirts are still safe:
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54e3249add089551238b45d6-1728-1296/london40m.jpg" border="0" alt="London40m">
This is what happens under 80 metres of sea water. The red dots are flooded, but you could still be safe in Hampstead Heath or Shooter's Hill.
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/54e3249add089551238b45d7-1200-924/london80m-edited.png" border="0" alt="London80m edited">
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