Without increased investment in coastal adaptation, the expected annual damage caused by coastal floods in Europe could increase from €1.25 billion today to between €93 billion and €961 billion by the end of the century.
Due to an increase in extreme sea levels driven by global warming, these coastal floods could impact up to 3.65 million people every year in Europe by 2100, compared to around 102,000 today.
One in three EU citizens lives within 50 km of the coast.
The findings are the result of two JRC studies, where scientists project both how global extreme sea levels will change during the present century and how rising seas combined with socioeconomic change will affect future losses from coastal flooding.
Read more at European Commission Joint Research Centre
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