[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:7:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","climate",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"global",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","f82ead7ae3900762cea331cd4fdfb7fd","Entry","2021-11-11T07:03:05.452Z","2024-06-04T08:19:53.030Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",57,24,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":58,"wrongPercentage":94,"ruleOfThumbs":95,"name":116,"questionText":117,"statistics":118,"veryWrongStatistics":120,"correctSentence":122,"youWereWrong":123,"youWereRight":124,"dataSourceShortText":125,"dataSourceLinkLongText":126,"extendedAnswerText":127,"headingVeryWrong":128,"youWereVeryWrong":123,"headingWrong":128},"7",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"db5005bf1823d2ed317941d9a14bba31","2021-11-11T06:50:17.073Z","2023-09-06T08:24:37.031Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},21,14,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"7-a1",true,false,"Around 11%",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"167518169905e1fc6a92a64c765974c1","2021-11-11T06:50:18.684Z","2023-09-06T08:24:37.081Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":76},"7-a2","Around 31%",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"1e285b23fe1cfad8d8a46dee73f57281","2021-11-11T06:50:20.320Z","2023-09-06T08:24:37.127Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"7-a3","Around 51%",77,[96],{"metadata":97,"sys":100,"fields":113},{"tags":98,"concepts":99},[],[],{"space":101,"id":103,"type":21,"createdAt":104,"updatedAt":105,"environment":106,"publishedVersion":108,"revision":109,"contentType":110,"locale":34},{"sys":102},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"6x0pR40j6kWErbqvqeQSgP","2020-06-15T15:57:25.102Z","2023-09-06T08:24:37.149Z",{"sys":107},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},12,10,{"sys":111},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":112},"ruleOfThumb",{"header":114,"body":115}," Good news is not news","Good news is almost never reported. So news is almost always bad. When you see bad news, ask whether equally positive news would have reached you.","How many people in the world live in areas that ar","How many people in the world live in areas that are 5 meters or less above sea level?",[119],"uk 0.772",[121],"uk 0.29","Around 11% of people live less than 5 meters above sea level.","Most people overestimate the population at risk from rising sea levels. When you overestimate how many homes can be reached by rising sea levels, you may think it’s impossible for so many people to find new places to live.","Most people overestimate the population at risk from rising sea levels. When they overestimate how many homes can be reached by rising sea levels, they may think it’s impossible for so many people to find new places to live.","Climate Central","Climate Central[1] estimates that approximately 770 million people in coastal regions worldwide lived at or below an elevation of 5 meters in 2010, which is 11% of the total population of 6.84 billion.[2] This number is higher than the previously popular estimate of 5% in a study by scientists at Columbia University[3]. The higher number is more relevant as it counts people living above the maximum tide levels instead of the average sea level, and it uses more granular population maps and higher accuracy elevation maps. The exact number is still uncertain. There are many sources of potential errors such as people moving around after the populations were counted. Even if nobody knows the exact number we can be sure it’s definitely somewhere around 11% and not nearly as high as most people guessed in our surveys.\n\n[1]  [Climate Central via Nature Communications](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nature.com\u002Farticles\u002Fs41467-019-12808-z#:~:text=Under%20high%20emissions%2C%20CoastalDEM%20indicates,230%20M%20below%201%20m.)  \n[2]  [New elevation data triple estimates of global vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding” in Nature Communications in October 2019, by Scott Kulp and Benjamin Strauss. Article by Climate Central scientists in which they explain their methodology](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nature.com\u002Farticles\u002Fs41467-019-12808-z)  \n[3]  [Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University. 2013. Low Elevation Coastal Zone (LECZ) Urban-Rural Population and Land Area Estimates, Version 2. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)](https:\u002F\u002Fsedac.ciesin.columbia.edu\u002Fdata\u002Fset\u002Flecz-urban-rural-population-land-area-estimates-v2)  ","Sea levels are rising due to ice on land melting and because sea water expands as it gets warmer. But the size of the rise is not the same everywhere. Winds and ocean currents are pushing water towards some coastlines more than others. Warmer seas expand more than colder ones. And in some places, like Scandinavia, the land is rising at roughly the same speed as the ocean.\n\nThe risks of living close to sea level are very different on different coastlines. Some people are not at risk of losing their house to the ocean, while for others that destiny is quite certain. This will definitely become a huge problem along the coastlines where 2.6% of the world’s population currently live that are expected to be under the high tide line by 2100. As these 200 million people struggle to relocate, they will not be helped if we overestimate their number so much that the problem seems unmanageable.\n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about this?\nWhile 11% of the world population is a large number, it isn’t a share so large that it seems impossible to put efforts and measures in place to protect those who live in these areas, particularly in small island nations. However, if people assume that a third or even a half of the world’s population live in areas that will feel the full effects of sea level rise then it could become a problem that feels too huge to solve for many people. \n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nPeople are aware of many of the effects of climate change. While this awareness of the issues is obviously a positive thing, sometimes it can lead to overestimating the size of the problems and making them seem completely unsolvable.\n\n### Can I trust this data?\nYes you can. While it is difficult to get an exact figure for data like this we have chosen to use the higher estimation from Climate Central of approximately 770 million (11%) people living at or below an elevation of 5 meters, as not to downplay the issue and effects of sea level rise. There are other studies which have the global share at around 5% of the population (you can read more about this in our expanded data section). \n","Far to the beach"]