Statistics Lithuania has shared several maps, showing which parts of the country would be flooded if the melting of ice caps led to a dramatic rise in sea levels.
It is generally assumed that if all glaciers and ice caps on Earth melted, global sea level would rise approximately 70 metres.
In that event, Lithuania would lose around one fourth of its territory. Around 34 percent of the current Lithuanian population would see their homes end up under water.
The third biggest city, Klaipėda, as well as other coastal towns would be lost to sea. Kaunas – which currently lies some 200 kilometres from the Baltic coast – would become Lithuania’s prime port, as would Marijampolė and Mažeikiai, according to Statistics Lithuania.
Moreover, the plateau around the town of Šiauliai would be turned into an island.
However, Lithuania would fare better than the other Baltic countries. If sea levels rose 70 metres, Estonia would lose some 80 percent of its territory, while Latvia would shrink by 50 percent. Both would see their capital cities come under water.
Meanwhile, Denmark, as well as the Netherlands, would be entirely submerged.
How likely?
In its fifth assessment report, released in 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated that by the end of the century sea levels may rise 26-55 centimetres, if countries make rapid cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, or as much as 52-98 centimetres if they do not.
According to Statistics Lithuania, however, the earth’s ice caps may completely melt in 10,000 years.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
