A new interactive map shows how high sea levels could rise by the year 2050 - and the results are damning.
Independent research group Climate Central published the map on Tuesday. It compares the data of predicted sea rise levels against known land elevations across the world.
In New Zealand, several towns and cities could be underwater in just 30 years' time.
South Island
Invercargill
The majority of Invercargill will be inundated with floods as the sea levels creep over the land between Riverton and Fortrose.
Dunedin
Dunedin Airport could be underwater too as the Waipori River and Lake Waihola swell.
The surrounding areas of Henley, Berwick and Momona are all blocked out with red, signifying the risk of flooding.
Dunedin itself would suffer, with the map showing all of south Dunedin at risk from The Oval to St Kilda.
Christchurch
Christchurch is also at risk with great swathes of land from Ferrymead to Waimairi Beach prone to flooding.
North Island
Foxton
Foxton would all but disappear as the Manawatu River rises.
Bay of Plenty
Papamoa would be gone and chunks of Matakana Island would disappear too.
Coromandel
The largest swathe of land lost in the North Island is between Waitakaruru and Paeroa, near Thames.
The entire area is shown in red with flood risk spreading across the land.
Auckland
The entirety of Auckland's Wynyard Quarter could succumb to the sea, as would areas of Parnell and Point Chevalier.
Helensville would be no more, and Parakai would suffer too.
Northland
From Dargaville to Ruwai, all the land surrounding the Wairoa River has been marked as at risk of rising sea levels.
Globally, the research shows 300 million people are living on land which is likely to flood at least once a year by 2050 - even if governments make cuts in emissions.
- Widespread ice sheet melting in Antarctica could raise sea level by 20m, NZ-led study finds
- Erosion at Port Waikato will be 75m for every 1m of sea level rise
- Ft. Denison, 1880 vs 2018.
- Whanganui’s ancient rock yields worrying clues about Antarctic melting
"We now understand that the threat from sea-level rise and coastal flooding is far greater than we previously thought," Benjamin Strauss, chief executive of Climate Central and co-author of the three-year study told Reuters.
Rising oceans could be disastrous for coastal residents and the Pacific Islands - entire nations could be submerged, creating climate refugees who are not protected by international law.
Strauss says the change has already begun, and it could be too late to stop it.
"We've already shifted from a world in which sea level was stable to one in which it is rising, and it will continue to rise for decades, and in fact, hundreds of years."
