The near-term 2030 sea level rise (SLR) maps may show large areas of “Land at risk.” This is because, even today, many lower elevation coastal areas are at risk of flooding. However, these locations may not experience flooding today, or in 2030, for several reasons:

 

1. Coastal protections: Locations may have levees, sea walls, or other flood protections that prevent flood water for reaching low-lying land.

 

2. Elevation map data: Climate Central, the non-profit who makes the maps included in En-ROADS, continually improves the land elevation map data. Even so, there might be errors in the exact elevation of coastlines in their global database. Please read Climate Central's FAQs for more information about the CoastalDEM database and their methodology.