Although buildings may remain just above sea level, access will likely be a problem by the end of the century, as much of the surrounding area disappears beneath the waves.

“Even though a certain property might be sort of dry, there’s going to be absolutely no way of getting to it,” Billy Brooks, a geospatial analyst at NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management in Charleston, South Carolina, told BuzzFeed News. …

NOAA’s maps of ground height are very accurate, but the timing of inundation is more uncertain. The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact is anticipating 3 feet or more of sea level rise by the end of the century, but it could come sooner than that. Alternatively, if the world’s nations manage to significantly cut their greenhouse gas emissions, the rise could be slower.