Drowning Cities

Flood Vancouver is an impressive visualization of how rising sea levels could affect the city of Vancouver. The Flood Vancouver 3D map allows you to manually adjust the level of the sea to visualize which parts of the city would flood at different sea levels.

You can adjust the sea level on the map by clicking on the up and down arrows on your keyboard. The 3D buildings on the map will change color depending on their status. The yellow buildings are unaffected by the rising sea level. However the buildings turn pink when the level of the sea starts lapping at their lower floors. When the buildings turn red on the map it is time to man the lifeboats.


If you like drowning cities then you will definitely like the Island of Berlin. This visualization provides a dramatic (if not exactly accurate) model of how global warming could effect Berlin.

The Island of Berlin uses WebGL to create a 3D model of Berlin. The model depicts Berlin as surrounded by a vast sea. Using the slide control you can raise the level of this sea to view which areas of Berlin would remain above water at different sea levels. Obviously Berlin is not an island surrounded by sea, so this visualization may not be entirely accurate.


Almost 20% of Singapore is reclaimed land. The country is therefore very worried about the likely effects of rising sea levels. In order to illustrate the possible impact of sea level rise last year the Straits Times released a virtual reality visualization called Singapore Underwater.

Singapore Underwater users virtual reality to show how Singapore might look in the future if global warming leads to rising sea levels. Singapore Underwater explains the reasons why sea levels are rising around the world. The visualization also looks at how Singapore might try to mitigate against rising seas and the possible impact of land loss and saltwater contamination of the country's farmland & reservoirs.

Singapore Underwater is best viewed with a VR headset but can be viewed on a desktop, tablet or mobile device