Alarming map reveals the Aussie landmarks and suburbs that could be underwater by 2100 – is your home at risk?

A new study and interactive map predicts the Sydney Opera House could be flooded by 2100 due to rising sea levels, along with other landmarks and homes across Australia.

The study by Nanyang Technological University and the environmental group Climate Central estimated that sea levels could rise by 1.9 metres by that year if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions continue to increase.

Under the highest-emissions scenario, the researchers said, global sea levels were ‘very likely’ to rise between 0.5 and 1.9 metres.

The study by NTU, Singapore, and Climate Central’s Coastal Risk Screening Tool includes a map allowing people to see if their home would be impacted by the  predicted rising seas.

If the scientists’ most extreme predictions are right and global sea levels do rise by 1.9 metres, some of Australia’s most iconic landmarks would be ruined.  

The map shows the sea would inundate the Sydney Opera House and reduce its waterfront location, Bennelong Point, to a small island.

The sea would completely cover the waterside precinct of Barangaroo. Large swathes of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney Airport and Port Botany would be submerged. 

It would also flood some of the city’s most prestigious eastern suburbs, with parks and waterfront properties in Rose Bay, Piper Point and Rushcutters Bay in the firing line.

  

The scientist’s predictions have not impacted the real estate market, as those areas are some of the most sought-after and expensive in the world.

Cities in Queensland would also be severely affected, with large parts of Brisbane and the Gold Coast submerged, and the northern part of the Sunshine Coast practically turned into an island.

Melbourne could expect to lose much of the NewQuay area and the Flemington Racecourse. 

The shocking sea level prediction is roughly double the most recent estimate from the United Nations. 

In its IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, released in 2023, the UN estimated that under high-emission scenarios, global sea levels would rise by between 0.6 and 1 metre.

But the researchers from NTU and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in The Netherlands, took a ‘fusion’ approach to their estimates by integrating statistical methods with predictions by climate scientists.

‘Our new approach tackles a key issue in sea-level science: different methods of projecting sea-level rise often produce widely varying results,’ said study lead author Benjamin Grandey, Senior Research Fellow at NTU.

‘By combining these different approaches into a single fusion projection, we can estimate the uncertainty associated with future sea-level rise and quantify the very likely range of sea-level rise.

‘Our new very likely projections highlight just how large the uncertainties are when it comes to sea-level rise.

‘The high-end projection of (1.9 metres) underscores the need for decision-makers to plan for critical infrastructure accordingly. More importantly, these results emphasize the importance of climate mitigation through reducing greenhouse gas emissions.’

The fusion model predicts that under a low-emissions scenario, global sea levels are very likely to rise between 0.3 and 1 metre by 2100. 

The researchers published their findings in the journal Earth’s Future.

The map also predicted that President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, located in Palm Beach, Florida would be underwater in about 75 years.

In the US, residents on the East Coast would be hit the hardest, with large portions of New York City, Boston, Atlantic City and Miami submerged.