Flooding caused by sea-level change would be one of a number of possible difficulties brought on by climate change.
Altered rainfall and temperatures might transform agriculture, perhaps forcing a change from beef and dairy to tillage. Water- or insect-borne diseases more typical of southern regions could emerge.
Urban areas might have to spread inland in response to sealevel change and a different type of home might be needed in response to a modified climate.
Scientists attempting to predict climate change brought on by global warming rely on models to "guesstimate" what might happen. The predictions vary greatly on the basis of whose model predictions you hear.
The latest thinking suggests that climate change over the North Atlantic region would leave temperatures either the same or only slightly altered. But the energy from the sun absorbed by the southern ocean would come back to visit us as more frequent and much more powerful storms.
This would have implications for construction and engineering as we would face vigorous storms with markedly heavier rainfalls, with more rain dumped over a shorter period.
Higher sea levels, linked with more frequent and probably higher storm surges, could also mean that coastal areas would regularly be swamped. This would leave many existing urban areas at risk and force a move to higher ground inland.
One recent alternative prediction suggested that continued warming would shut down the key North Atlantic ocean currents, stopping the Gulf Stream, which, at present, ensures that our climate is temperate.
This would immediately throw us into a new Ice Age, with average temperatures plummeting and leaving meaningful agriculture nearly impossible. We would no longer be able to feed ourselves given this scenario.
We could also face unfamiliar diseases, either carried by insects or from bacteria and other organisms that would thrive in warmer water. New York City is getting an increasing number of insect-borne diseases, including West Nile Fever. Ireland could face this difficulty.
